Genetic Engineering Introduction PDF

Genetic Engineering What is the difference between the mice in these two groups? What is genetic engineering? Genetic engineering is the direct modification of an organism’s genome, which is the list of specific traits (genes) stored in the DNA. Changing the genome enables engineers t...

Genetic Engineering What is the difference between the mice in these two groups? What is genetic engineering? Genetic engineering is the direct modification of an organism’s genome, which is the list of specific traits (genes) stored in the DNA. Changing the genome enables engineers to give desirable properties to different organisms. Organisms created by genetic engineering are called genetically modified organisms (GMOs). History of GMO Development 1973: created first genetically modified bacteria 1974: created GM mice 1982: first commercial development of GMOs (insulin-producing bacteria) 1994: began to sell genetically modified food What is the GMO process? All genetic changes affect the protein synthesis of the organism. By changing which proteins are produced, genetic engineers can affect the overall traits of the organism. Genetic modification can be completed by a number of different methods: Direct replacement of genes (recombination) Removal of genes Inserting new genetic material randomly or in targeted locations Mutation of existing genes  GMO Bacteria Bacteria are the most common GMOs because their simple structure permits easy manipulation of their DNA. One of the most interesting uses for genetically modified bacteria is the production of hydrocarbons (plastics and fuels) usually only found in fossil fuels. Cyanobacteria have been modified to produce plastic (polyethylene) and fuel (butanol) as byproducts of photosynthesis E. Coli bacteria have been modified to produce diesel fuel  Engineering Plants How might genetic engineering modify plants to solve everyday problems? (Consider world hunger, weather problems, insecticide pollution…) The GMO papaya, called the Rainbow papaya Dr. Garritt P. Wilder, a botanist at the Bishop Museum, is credited with introducing the Solo papaya in Hawaii to 1910. This marked one of the giant steps in papaya breeding in Hawaii, as Solo became the dominant type in commercial production. The Hawaii papaya industry began suffering severe economic losses due to the impact of the devastating papaya ringspot virus on the island of Oahu as early as the 1950s.  Genetically Modified Crops GMO crop production in the US (2010): 93% of soybeans 93% of cotton 86% of corn 95% of sugar beets Example: One common modified crop is Bt-corn. A gene from the Bt bacteria is added so the corn produces a protein that is poisonous to  Banana Vaccines Modified virus injected in sapling tree causes the bananas to contain virus proteins Venomous Cabbage Scorpion genes added to the cabbage prevent insects from eating it  Other Reasons to Genetically Modify Crops Insect resistant Herbicide resistant Drought/freeze resistant Disease resistant Higher yield Faster growth Improved nutrition Longer shelf life  Engineering Animals Could genetic engineering be used to modify any animals to solve problems?  Bioluminescent Animals Uses: Protein tracking Disease detection using bioluminescent imaging (BLI) to identify different types of cells Novelty pets (Glofish are available now) Bioluminescent Animals What is a GloFish and How Does it GLOW? ✨🐠✨  Fast- Growing Salmon Genes from two other fish cause this salmon to continually produce growth hormones Less Smelly Cows Modifying bacteria responsible for methane production in cattle results in 25% less-flatulent cows Could Spiderman Be Real? ? Web- Producing Goats Spider genes in goats enable the  GMO Concerns What are some concerns regarding genetically modified foods and animals? Risk to human health; unsafe to eat Harm to the environment and wildlife Increased pesticide and herbicide use Farmers’ health Seed and pollen drift Creation of herbicide-resistant super weeds What about genetic engineering in humans? Nearly 50 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan and all of the countries in the European Union, have enacted significant restrictions or full bans on the production and  Vocabulary/ Definitions DNA: Acronym for deoxyribonucleic acid, which is a molecule that contains an organism's complete genetic information. Gene: The molecular unit of an organism that contains information for a specific trait (specific DNA sequence). Genome: An entire set of genes for an organism. GMO: Acronym for genetically modified organism. Nucleotide: The building block of DNA. Plasmid: The circular DNA structure used by bacteria. Protein: Large biomolecules used by an organism for a number of purposes; in this context, to express a desired trait. Recombinant DNA: DNA to which a section has been removed and replaced (recombined) with a new sequence. Restriction enzyme: An enzyme that "cuts" DNA when specific base pair sequences are present. trait: A distinguishing characteristic.  What is DNA? Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a large biomolecule that contains the complete genetic information for an organism. Every cell of living organisms and many viruses, contains DNA. The basic building block of a DNA molecule is called a nucleotide, and a single strand of DNA may contain billions of nucleotides. (Refer to Figure 1 to see the DNA structure with labeled parts.) Although each DNA molecule contains many of these building blocks, only four unique nucleotides are used to create the entire DNA sequence; these are written as A, G, C and T.  What is DNA? Because DNA contains instructions for an organism to create several different proteins, it is useful to define another sub- unit of DNA called genes (shown in Figure 2). Each gene is a small segment of DNA that contains a set of instructions for an organism to create a single protein; a single organism may have thousands of different genes. Together, the entire set of genes for an organism is called its genome. Why are proteins important? Proteins perform all of the work in organisms. Some functions of proteins include: Serving as catalysts for reactions Performing cell signaling Transporting molecules across membranes Creating structures When a protein is created by its gene, it is said that the gene is "expressed," or used. Most gene expressions do not produce results visible to the unaided eye.