biotechnology

• bacteria can be genetically modified to produce useful substances such as insulin
• a plasmid is removed from a bacterium. at the same time, the insulin gene is cut out of a human chromosome using a restriction enzyme. the cute leaves one of the DNA strands with unpaired bases - this is called a 'sticky end'
• the plasmid is cut open using the same restrictive enzyme - leaving the same sticky ends
• the plasmid and human insulin gene are mixed together.
• ligase is added. this joins the sticky ends together to produce recombinant DNA
• recombinant DNA is DNA that has been altered by inserting foreign DNA into the original DNA
• the recombinant DNA is inserted into a bacterium
• using modern biotechnology techniques, large amounts of microorganisms can be cultured industrially under controlled conditions in large vats for us as a food source
• mycoprotein is used to make high-protein meat substitues for vegetarian meals
• an example of food made with mycoprotein is quorn
• quorn is made from the fungus fusarium
• fusarium is grown in aerobic conditions on glucose syrup, which it uses as food
• the fungal biomass from fusarium is harvested and purified to produce the mycoprotein
• GM crops are genetically modified to produce a specific trait, such as insect resistance.