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| Description: Genetic engineering = laboratory manipulation of genetic material Creates a genetically modified (GM) organism Recombinant DNA = DNA patched together from the DNA of multiple organisms Biotechnology = the material application of biological science to create products derived from organisms Transgenic organism = an organism that contains DNA from another species Transgenes = the genes that have moved between organisms Biotechnology has helped us create medicines, clean up pollution, understand the causes of cancer, dissolve blood clots after heart attacks, and make better beer and cheese Genetic engineering vs traditional breeding Similar: Both alter gene pools for preferred characteristics Both apply to plants and animals Different: Traditional breeding uses genes from the same species Selective breeding deals with whole organisms, not just genes In traditional breeding, genes come together on their own Most GM crops today are engineered to resist herbicides, others to resist insects Three-fourths of the world’s soybean plants are transgenic As are one out of every four corn plants and over half of all cotton plants Globally, in 2013, GM foods grew on 175 million hectares of farmland, producing $10.5 billion worth of crops Impacts of GM crops: As GM crops expanded, scientists, citizens, and policy makers became concerned Dangerous to human health Escaping transgenes could pollute ecosystems and damage nontarget organisms Pests could evolve resistance Could ruin the integrity of native ancestral races Interbreed with closely related wild plants The future of GM foods seems likely to hinge on social, economic, legal, and political factors as well as scientific ones Transnational spats will surely affect the future direction of agriculture, but consumers and the government’s of the world’s developing nations could exert the most influence in the end India and Brazil approve of GM crops China is expanding use of transgenic crops Picture Stats: Views: 302 Filesize: 66.87kB Height: 827 Width: 570 Source: https://biology-forums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=35751 |