Genetic Engineering Reflection
Chapter 13 is extremely useful especially since the concept of genetic engineering is contemporary. Genetic variation was something that is important in our everyday lives, because without it we would not be able to look different, have disabilities, or have different sizes. Selective breeding allows us to pick traits that we want, and keep them throughout generations. For example, if a dog had a resistance to fleas, then that dog would be “selectively bred”, so its genes would be put into another dog, which would also have that flea resistance.
Inbreeding results in unique characteristics being preserved, while the two organisms will create somewhat of a hybrid. Breeders purposely induce mutations to increase the genetic variation in a community, whether it be a good mutation or a bad one.
We conducted a gel electrophoresis lab in class, which demonstrated how scientists separate DNA bases on size. We put the same amount of food color into each socket, and when we ran the current through the gel, whichever color moved the fastest through the gel would be the smallest, and whichever one moved the slowest and the least distance would be the bigger one. It can be used to identify a particular gene in an entire genome.
http://wliubiology.blogspot.com/2016/01/candy-electrophoresis-lab-questions.html
Recombinant DNA is when a gene is taken from one organism and attaching it to the DNA of another organism. First, the DNA is “cut” open in one place, then the gene is inserted. After that, the DNA is spliced back together. We conducted a lab on recombinant DNA where we used two rings, one of them being the DNA, and the other one being the gene.
Cell transformation started with bacteria. When dead bacteria cells were mixed with live ones, the live ones accepted the DNA from the killed ones and it becomes a component of the cell’s DNA. If a plasmid that has the DNA from the dead bacteria enters a bacterial cell, the sequence will replicate the DNA. After the cell duplicates many times, the entire culture is given some antibiotics, which results in only the transformed cells surviving since they have the resistance gene that the other ones did not. Scientists can locate these specific, transformed cells with genetic markers.
Genetic engineering can be used in many ways. It can make fish glow green, make grapes very large, and tobacco plants glow in the dark. It has increased the usage of biotechnology, which we have had a vodcast on. It increased the amount of plants being grown, which results in more food production faster. Cloning has also been introduced. If there is a sheep with a resistance to bacterial illnesses, then it can be cloned to make an identical sheep that also has this resistance. Cloning has resulted in many controversial problems, as well has mutations and other defects or problems. We had a lab on genetic engineering called the pGLO lab, where we inserted the gene for glowing green into bacteria. After a few days, when a UV light was shone upon the bacteria, it indeed, was glowing green. We inserted the DNA into the same container as the bacteria, and after heat shocking the container, the pores of the bacteria opened up and accepted the bacteria. This resulted in the pGLO being duplicated until it made many colonies of glowing green bacteria.
https://lgsuhsd.instructure.com/courses/2529/assignments/12439?module_item_id=46093
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