Using recombinant DNA technology

Question 1

What three things can be transformed using recombinant DNA technology?
(genetic engineering)

Answer 1

• microorganisms
• plants
• animals

Question 2

How are transformed microorganisms made?

Answer 2

They are made using the same technology in vivo cloning (e.g. foreign DNA can be inserted into microorganisms to produce lots of useful protein.

Question 3

How are transformed plants made?

Answer 3

A gene that codes for a desirable protein is inserted into a plasmid. The plasmid is added to the bacterium and the bacterium is used as a vector to get the gene into the plant cells.
If the right promoter region has been added along with the gene the transformed cells will be able to produce the desired protein.

Question 4

How are transformed animals made?

Answer 4

A gene that codes for a desirable protein can be inserted into an early animal embryo or into the egg of a female.

Question 5

What happens if the gene is inserted into a very early embryo when transforming animals?

Answer 5

All the body cells of the resulting transformed animals will up end containing that gene.

Question 6

What happens if the gene is inserted into the egg cells when transforming animals?

Answer 6

When the female reproduces all the cells of her offspring will contain the gene.

Question 7

Name the three ways in which recombinant DNA technology (transformed organisms) can be used

Answer 7

• agriculture
• industry
• medicine

Question 8

What are the benefits of using recombinant DNA technology in agriculture?

Answer 8

Agricultural crops can be transformed so that they give higher yields or are more nutritious. This means that these plants can be used to reduce the risk of famine.
They can also be transformed to have pest resistance which reduces costs and environmental problems associated with using pesticides.

Question 9

What are the issues of using recombinant DNA technology in agriculture?

Answer 9

• farmers might plant only one type of transformed crop which reduces biodiversity and makes the whole crop vulnerable to the same disease as the plants are genetically identical.
• organic farmers can have their groups contaminated by wind blow seeds from genetically modified crops meaning they can’t sell their crops as organic
• superweeds: weeds that are resistant to herbicides. This occurs when a transformed crop interbreeds with wild plants and can lead to a uncontrolled spread of recombinant DNA

Question 10

What are the benefits of using recombinant DNA technology in industry?

Answer 10

Industrial processes often use biological catalysts which are produced from transformed organisms so they can be produced in large quantities for less money.

Question 11

What are the issues of using recombinant DNA technology in inudstry?

Answer 11

• some consumer markets won’t import GM foods and products which can cause an economic loss to the producers
• anti-globalisation activists opposes globalisation (e.g. the growth of large multinational companies at the expense of smaller ones)
• without proper labelling some people think they won’t have a choice about whether to consumer foods made using genetically engineered organisms

Question 12

What are the benefits of using recombinant DNA technology in medicine?

Answer 12

Many drugs and vaccines are produced by transformed organisms. They can be made quickly, cheaply and in large quantities.

Question 13

What are the issues of using recombinant DNA technology in medicine?

Answer 13

• some people worry this technology can be used unethically
• companies who own genetic engineering technology may limit the use of technology that could be saving lives.

Question 14

What are the ownership issues about recombinant DNA technology?

Answer 14

There is debate about owns genetic material from humans once it has been removed from the body - the donor or the researcher.
A small number of large corporations own patents to particular seeds. They can charge high prices and can require farmers to repurchase seeds each year. If non-GM crops are contaminated by GM crops farmers can be sued for breaching the patent law.

Question 15

What are the humanitarian benefits of using recombinant DNA technology?

Answer 15

• agricultural crops can produced that help reduce the risk of famine and malnutrition
• transformed crops could be used to produce useful pharmaceutical products which could make drugs available to more people
• medicines could be produced cheaply so more people could afford them
• recombinant DNA technology has the potential to be used in gene therapy to treat human diseases

Question 16

What does gene therapy involve?

Answer 16

Involves altering the defective genes (mutated alleles) inside cells the treat cancer and genetic disorders.

Question 17

What does gene therapy depend on?

Answer 17

How you carry out gene therapy depends on whether the disorder is caused by a mutated dominant allele or two mutated recessive alleles

Question 18

What happens if the disorder is caused be 2 mutated recessive alleles?
(gene therapy)

Answer 18

You can add a working dominant allele to make up for them

Question 19

What happens if the disorder is caused by a mutated dominant allele?
(gene therapy)

Answer 19

You can silence the dominant allele
(e.g. by sticking a bit of DNA in the middle of the allele so it doesn’t work anymore)

Question 20

What does the process of gene therapy involve?

Answer 20

Inserting a DNA fragment in the person’s original DNA
- the allele is inserted into cells using vectors
- different vectors can be used

Question 21

Name the 2 types of gene therpay

Answer 21

Somatic therapy
Germ line therapy

Question 22

What is somatic therapy?

Answer 22

Therapy that involves altering the alleles in body cells, particularly the cells that are most affected by this disorder.
It doesn’t affect the individuals sex cells so any offspring could still inherit the disease

Question 23

What is germ line therapy?

Answer 23

Therapy that involves altering the alleles in sex cells. This means that every cells of any offspring produced from these cells will be affected by the gene therapy and they won’t suffer from the disease.
It is currently illegal in humans