Natural selection + genetic modification

Cards (34)

  • Alfred Russell Wallace is a scientist that came up with the idea of natural selection
  • Antibiotic-resistant bacteria is bacteria that mutate to become resistant to an antibiotic, surviving and reproducing to pass on their antibiotic resistance
  • Archaea is one of the three domains, it consists of primitive bacteria existing in extreme environments
  • Arid is a 4.4 million year old female hominid fossil that encompasses both ape and human characteristics
  • Biological control is the intruduction of a new organism into an ecosystem to control a pest or pathogen
  • Charles Darwin is a scientist who developed the theory of evolution through natural selection
  • The three domains are Eukarya, Bacteria and Archea
  • Evolution is the gradual change in the inherited traits within an organisms population overtime, it occurs due to natural selection
  • Fertilisers are natural or artificial materials added to soil to provide nutrients and improve plant growth
  • The five kingdoms are Animals, Plants, Fungi, Prokaryotes and Protists
  • Genetically modified organisms are organisms that have had their genome altered
  • Genetic engineering is the modification of an organisms genome by the insertion of a desired gene from one organism to another, enabling beneficial characteristics
  • Genome is the complete genetic material of an organism
  • Ligase is an enzyme that joins the sticky ends of DNA together forming recombinant DNA
  • Lucy is a 3.2 million year old female hominid fossil exhibiting more human traits then Ardi
  • A mutation is a random change in the base sequence of DNA which can result in genetic variation
  • Natural selection is the process where organisms that are better adapted to an environment survive and reproduce
  • Recombinant DNA is a combination of DNA from two different organisms
  • Restriction enzymes cut the DNA molecules at specific sequences creating sticky ends
  • Selective breeding is the process in which humans artificially select organisms to breed and produce offspring with the chosen characteristics
  • Sticky ends are the staggered cut formed by restriction enzymes in double-stranded DNA
  • Tissue culture is a method of growing living tissue or cells in a suitable medium to produce clone plants
  • Vectors are carriers used to transfer a gene from one organism to another
  • Process of tissue culture-
    Choose a plant with desirable characteristic. Using tweezers, remove a piece of tissue from a fast-growing region of plant, often the root or shoot tip. Using an aseptic technique (sterile) place the tissue on a special growth medium with hormones and nutrients until it’s developed and can be transferred to compost for further growth
  • Advantages of tissue culture-
    Produces offspring with desirable characteristics
    Can help preserve endangered species
    Increase the number of crops resistant to harmful weather conditions
  • Disadvantages of tissue culture-
    Gene pool is reduced which decreases survival rate if diseases occur
    Low survival rate and genetic problems
  • Process of genetic engineering-
    Genes from chromosomes are cut out using restriction enzymes. The same restriction enzyme is then used to cut up a vector, like a bacterial plasmid, where the genes will be placed. Ligase enzymes attach the sticky ends of the gene and vector together to produce a recombinant gene product. This is placed into an early stage organism where it will develop with the desired characteristics. In plants, it will be places into the meristems and produce a clone.
  • Advantages of genetic engineering-
    Improving agricultures growth rates and intruding modifications which increase yields
    Produce mass hormones in microorganisms which are used for medicine
  • Disadvantages of genetic engineering-
    Genetically modified plants are infertile and can spread into wild plants, affecting the entire environment
    The affects of genetically modified crops are unknown
    Pose a selection pressure
  • Fertilisers provide useful nutrients (nitrates and phosphates)
    to plants which makes them more resistant to harmful environmental conditions and increases growth
  • Advantages of selective breeding-
    Individual organisms can be bred to be resistant to a particular disease which can increase yield
  • Disadvantages of selective breeding-
    Selecting for advantageous characteristics can cause health problems in the offspring
    Lack of genetic variation which leaves organisms vunerable to environmental pressures
    Ethical issues
  • Process of Natural selection-
    G - genetic variation
    E - environment pressures
    N - natural selection
    I - inheritance
    E - evolution
  • Process of selective breeding-
    G - genetic variation
    A - artificial selection
    B - breeding
    O - offspring
    R - repeat