Exploring Biotechnology: Impact, Risks, and Ethics

1. SC.912.L.16.10 Evaluate the impact of biotechnology on the individual, society and the environment, including medical and ethical issues.

2. Scientists use genetic engineering to produce new, desirable traits in organisms. For example, scientists have developed crops that are resistant to weed killers. Which of the following is a possible risk of using genetic engineering in this way? A. more new diseases B. more harmful insects C. More resilient weeds D. More genetic variation

3. Many people with diabetes must inject the hormone insulin because their bodies cannot make it. Scientists have developed bacteria that produce human insulin. Which process might scientists have used to develop the bacteria? • Cloning • Genetic drift • Gene regulation • Genetic engineering

4. Genetic engineering has been used to improve crop plants, such as corn and rice. When scientists genetically engineer a plant, they insert a foreign gene into the plant. They often link this gene to an antibiotic resistance marker (ARM) gene, which helps determine if the first gene was successfully inserted into the plant. Some scientists argue that this practice is completely safe. Other scientists fear that it will create new strains of diseases that are resistant to antibiotics. Which best describes the ethical issue related to ARMs? • Using ARMs in genetically engineered food will harm future generations • Using ARMS in genetically engineered food carries a risk of harming people • Using ARMS in genetically engineered food will affect profits because people will not want to buy the resulting crops • Using ARMS in genetically engineered food is safe because no new strains of disease have occurred so far.

5. Which of these is NOT an advantage of genetically engineered crop plants? • They can contain extra nutrients • They can produce their own pesticides • They can grow larger than unmodified crops • They cannot cause an allergic reaction