Genetic Technology Flashcards
(24 cards)
What is genetic engineering?
Alteration of an organism’s genetic material to eliminate undesirable characteristics or produce desirable new ones.
What is artificial selection?
Breeding organisms with favorable traits, e.g. drought-resistant corn plants.
What is inbreeding?
Mating closely related individuals, reducing variations and increasing the chance of harmful recessive alleles.
What is outbreeding?
Mating distantly related individuals to increase variation or introduce new characteristics.
Give an example of a beneficial mutation used in agriculture.
Seedless oranges and grapes.
What is gene therapy?
A medical procedure where defective genes are replaced with normal genes using a virus as a vector.
What is the role of the vector in gene therapy?
It is the virus used to infect cells with the normal gene.
What is recombinant DNA?
DNA from two different organisms joined together.
What is the rationale behind using recombinant DNA technology?
To produce substances like insulin, blood clotting factors, and interferons.
How is recombinant DNA made?
- DNA is cut by restriction enzymes.
- Plasmids are broken open and combined with cut DNA.
- New recombinant DNA is added to bacterial culture.
- Bacteria reproduce and produce desired proteins.
What are two important features of restriction enzymes?
- Specificity
- Staggered cuts
What is DNA amplification?
Making large amounts of DNA from a small sample.
What is one method of DNA amplification?
Using recombinant DNA technology with bacterial plasmids.
What does PCR stand for?
Polymerase Chain Reaction.
What is gel electrophoresis used for?
Separating molecules according to size/mass and electrical charge.
True or False: In gel electrophoresis, DNA moves towards the negative end.
False.
What does sequencing DNA involve?
Determining the exact sequence of nucleotides in a DNA strand.
What is the process called that is used in DNA sequencing?
Chain termination.
What is a microarray?
A tool for analyzing gene expression using cDNA probes.
What does mRNA indicate?
Which genes are being expressed and active.
What is CRISPR-Cas9 used for?
Genome editing by targeting and editing particular genes.
What does CRISPR stand for?
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.
What is the natural function of the CRISPR-Cas9 system in bacteria?
Part of the prokaryotic immune system to snip foreign DNA.
What potential does CRISPR-Cas9 offer for human health?
A tool for curing genetically based diseases.
