Genetic Engineering

• Tools of Molecular Biology-

• Where does the new DNA come from?

• How is it removed from the source organism?

• How do scientists make this gene ready to insert into another organism?

• Transforming Bacterial Cells

• What is a plasmid?

• What is the function of a plasmid?

• Transforming Plant Cells

• How is the gene transferred into the new plant?

• Cloning

• What is a clone?

• Put the process (332) into your own words.

• In the book “The Hunger Games,” the Capitol produced genetically enhanced birds called jabberjays to spy on rebels. Unexpectedly, these birds bred with mockingbirds, creating a new hybrid bird called the mockingjay. The Capitol did not intend for this to happen, and the bird became a symbol of rebellion.

• What lessons can we draw about genetic engineering from these examples? Could a scenario like this, where a genetically engineered organism hybridizes with a wild animal or plant, happen in the real world? Why or why not?

• Raise your hand if you think a scenario like the one depicted in “The Hunger Games” could happen in the real world.

“What conditions would be required for a genetically engineered organism to hybridize with a wild animal or plant? What steps could be put in place to keep this from happening?”

• What is a genetically modified organism? • What is a jabberjay? A mockingjay? • What roles do these organisms play in the book

series “The Hunger Games”? • What is the value of creating genetically

modified organisms? What are some of the concerns surrounding G.M.O.’s?

• What predictions can you make for what might happen if the tools of biotechnology spread to everyone, and lead to “an explosion of diversity of new living creatures”?