Genetic Engineering

• Plant crops engineered

  • Resistant to disease
  • Produce bigger, better fruits
• Bacterial cells engineered

  • Produce human insulin to treat diabetes
• Advantages of genetic engineering

  • Resistant to insect attacks or herbicides
  • Show increased yields
• Cons of genetic engineering

  • Effects of eating GM crops on human health not explored carefully
  • Effect on populations in the wild, may outcompete wild plants
• Genetic engineering

  • Modifying the genetic material of an organism by introducing a gene from another organism to give a desired characteristic
• Steps of genetic engineering

  • Enzymes are used to isolate the required gene; this gene is inserted into a vector, usually a bacterial plasmid or a virus
  • The vector is used to insert the gene into the required cells
  • Genes are transferred to the cells of animals, plants or microorganisms at an early stage in their development so that they develop with desired characteristics.