BIOTECHNOLOGY

What is Biotechnology?• the use of living systems and organisms

to develop or make useful products. It can also be any technological application such as artificial selection, genetic engineering, DNA fingerprinting and cloning that uses biological systems and living organisms to make or modify products or processes for specific use.

ARTIFICIAL SELECTION

• Earliest form of biotechnology that has been used in plants and animals. Its purpose is to produce desired traits

• There are 2 types of artificial selection:

1. inbreeding 2. outbreeding

(also known as hybridization)

INBREEDING• Cross organisms with

similar genotypes• Purpose: Maintain

desirable traits in the same line of organisms

• Risks: Can cause undesirable recessive (rr) traits to be expressed

(such as deafness, blindness, joint deformations)

OUTBREEDING• Cross organisms from different

species (genotypes)• This is also known as

“Hybridization”. It usually causes sterility but can also be used to conserve endangered species

(Florida Panther X Texas Cougars)

•Increases strength and vigor (Examples: mule, liger)

Donkey (x) female horse

Male lion (x) female tiger

GENETIC ENGINEERING

• Technique(s) used to identify or change genes at the molecular level.

• Many uses such as: determining paternity, identifying a carrier of a particular gene for a particular disorder, etc.

• One technique is Gel Electrophoresis used to make a pattern called a “DNA Fingerprint”.

DNA FINGERPRINTING:

an analysis of sections of DNA that have little or no known function in order to identify one individual from another.Example used in a paternity suit:

lane 1 = mother lane 2 = child lane 3 = putative (="possible") father #1 lane 4 = putative father #2

Cloning -The creation of an organism that is an exact genetic copy of another. This means that every single bit of DNA is the same between the two (like identical twins).

Genetically Modified Foods (GMO)

• Also known as Transgenic Plants, foods that have been genetically engineered for faster growth, resistance to pathogen and production of extra nutrients.

Gene Splicing: a process used to take certain genes from one organism and insert them into another.

• Gene Splicing: