STANDARD 16.10
Evaluate the impact of biotechnology on the individual, society and the environment, including medical and ethical issues.
Evaluate the impact of biotechnology on the individual, society and the environment, including medical and ethical issues.
What is Biotechnology?
2. Food production How do scientist make recombinant DNA?
How is it possible to insert genes from an organism into another?
This is possible because the genetic code is "universal"
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Activities/ Resources
Practice Questions hereGM Products: The Benefits and Controversies
(https://genomics.energy.gov/) Video: Genetically Modified Organisms (Annenberg Learning) The Human Genome Project Research:
- What were the goals of the HGP? - The following are Ethical, Legal & Social Issues about genetic information that have raised many questions, can you find the answers?
Group Discussion: Science Genetics Ethics (from Biology Corner) |
Transgenic Organisms
- Organisms with traits produced by recombinant DNA are called "transgenic"
- Transgenic technology was refined using mice in the 1980s.
- Genetic engineers are now able to produce transgenic plants, animals, and microorganisms.
- Many applications of this technology are used to improve the plants and animals for agricultural purposes.
One important modification in agriculture uses genes from bacteria that produce a protein known as Bt toxin.
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Scientists claim multiple benefits, but there are multiple concerns about these use of this technologies:
Benefits
Crops
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Controversies
Safety
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Stem Cells
Stem cells are cells with the potential to develop into many different types of cells in the body. They serve as a repair system for the body. There are two main types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells.
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DNA Fingerprinting
DNA fingerprinting, also called DNA typing, DNA profiling, genetic fingerprinting, genotyping, or identity testing, is a tool used by biologists that determines whether two samples of DNA are related by analyzing an individual's unique collection of DNA segments.
- There are millions of base pairs in each person’s DNA, giving us each a unique sequence (with the exception of identical twins, who share the same DNA sequence).
- Although more than 99.1% of the genome is the same throughout the human population, the remaining 0.9% of human DNA shows variations between individuals. DNA fingerprinting examines a small number of DNA sequences that are known to vary a great deal among individuals.
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DNA Fingerprinting in Wildlife Conservation
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