Biotechnology

1. Biotechnology

2. Selective breeding: allowing organisms with desired characteristics to produce offspring. • Nearly all domestic animals, including horses, dogs, and cats – and most crop plants have been produced through selective breeding.

3. Hybridization – crossing dissimilar individuals to bring together best of both (ex: disease resistant Burbank potato helped to fight potato blight in Ireland)

4. Inbreeding – the continued breeding of individuals with similar characteristics (ex: different breeds of dogs: poodles, beagles, labs, etc.) • Inbreeding can cause serious problems – higher chance two similar individuals will bring together two recessive alleles for a genetic defect (ex: blindness and joint deformities in German shepherds and golden retrievers)

5. Genetic engineering: making changes in the DNA code of a living organism • DNA extraction – cells are lysed using chemicals; DNA is separated out using a centrifuge. • Restriction enzymes – used to cut DNA into smaller fragments.

6. Gel electrophoresis – separates DNA, so it can be analyzed. DNA is placed into agarose gel. When electric current is applied to the gel the pieces of DNA move. The shortest pieces go the farthest. DNA separates out into bands.

7. PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) - Technique used to copy DNA (small amounts to large amounts) Used by forensics to get enough DNA for analysis

8. Plasmids –Circular, bacterial DNA molecule. Bacteria are often what people use to make recombinant DNA (Ex. Putting the human insulin gene into a bacterial plasmid causes that bacteria to make insulin)

9. Recombinant DNA – DNA made from combining DNA from different sources (Ex. Human insulin + bacteria plasmid = recombinant DNA )

10. Transgenic Organisms – an organism that contains genes from another individual • Ex. Bacteria to produce insulin • Ex. Livestock with extra growth hormone to make it grow faster & larger • Ex. Vitamin A crops

11. Clones - member of a population of genetically identical organisms produced from a single cell • Wilmut (1997) cloned first multicellularorganism Sheep, Dolly • Cows, pigs and other mammals have followed • May suffer from defects/problems

12. Human Genome Project • 13-year effort to: • identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA, • determine the sequences of the 3 billion base pairs that make up human DNA • Knowing the human genome is helpful because it can be used to study our evolutionary history, genetic diseases, and can be used to make pharmaceuticals.

13. Gene therapy – replacing an absent or fault gene with a normal, working gene. • A carrier molecule called a vector must be used to deliver the normal gene to the patient’s target cells. The most common vector is a virus that has been genetically altered to carry normal human DNA.

14. Not always successful – first FDA trial approved in 1990 • Scientists do not know how long beneficial effects of treatments will last. • Has been used with diseases such as cystic fibrosis, Parkinson’s disease, and severe immunodeficiency diseases.

15. DNA Fingerprinting • DNA fingerprinting has been used in the U.S. since the late 1980s. The reliability of the DNA evidence has helped to convict many criminals as well as overturn false convictions. It is also used widely for paternity testing (Maury’s Baby Daddy test)

16. Small sample of DNA is cut using restriction enzymes • Fragments are separated by size using gel electrophoresis

17. Scientists find sections of DNA that are unique using probes • Bands are produced that are unique to that particular individual • DNA samples can be obtained from blood, sperm, skin, etc.