Genetic Engineering

13.1

Genetic Engineering

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO):

Genetic engineering is a gene manipulation technique to genetically modify an organism to form new gene combinations.
Organisms whether animals, plants or microorganisms produced through recombinant DNA technology are known as genetically modified organisms or genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Genetic engineering involves the transfer of DNA segments from one organism to another through recombinant DNA technology.
By using techniques and procedures in recombinant DNA technology, biologists can reconstruct the DNA or genome (a complete set of DNA) of an organism.
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms that contain recombinant DNA.
Through recombinant DNA technology, new combinations of genes are produced in an organism
Organisms that contain recombinant DNA are known as transgenic organisms

Genetically Modified Food (GMF):

Recombinant DNA technology has successfully produced many crops (rice, oil palm, pineapple, corn and soybeans) as well as livestock (salmon, cattle and goats) that have the desired characteristics.
Genetically modified foods (GMF) have DNA from other plant or animal species.
Intake of GMF by humans is likely to have a variety of still unknown health implications.

Characteristics of genetically modified food (GMF):

Advantages of GMF	Disadvantages of GMF
Overcome worldwide food shortage by producing high quality transgenic crops amd livestock Reduce cost of food production Increase nutritional value of crops Reduce problems of crops related to pests Reduce usage of pesticides Increase in production reduces price of food,thus increase food availabilty	Endangered natural species There is a slight possibility that the foreign gene inGMF may be transferred to humans,for example.antibiotic-resistance gene May have adverse effects pn human health and genetic material

Genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis are incorporated into corn genes to increase corn's resistance to insect attack.
‘Super salmon’ is a genetically modified fish that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as safe to eat in the United States and Canada.
The growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon is inserted into the genome of Atlantic salmon
With this, Atlantic salmon grow faster, i.e. ‘super salmon’ can be produced all year round.

Insulin:

The hormone insulin plays an important role in controlling blood sugar levels.
In the past, insulin was extracted from the pancreas of cattle or pigs to treat patients with diabetes mellitus.
Now, insulin can be obtained from genetic engineering techniques and can be produced commercially for the use of diabetics
In addition to insulin, hepatitis B vaccine, blood clotting factors and growth hormone have been successfully genetically engineered.