Saturday, July 30, 2016
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Genetic Modification Organism (GMO)
What is Genetic Modification
Organism?
A genetically modified organism (GMO) or
genetically engineered organism (GEO) is an organism whose genetic material has
been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally
known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources,
which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is
then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes.
Transgenic organisms, a subset of GMOs, are organisms which have inserted DNA
that originated in a different species.
Genetically
modified organisms ( GMO’s) is a term most commonly used to refer to crop
plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest biotechnology
techniques. These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance
desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved
nutritional content. The enhancement of desired traits has traditionally been
undertaken through breeding, but conventional plant breeding methods can be
very time consuming. Genetic engineering, on the other hand, can create plants
with the exact desired trait very rapidly and with great accuracy. For example,
plant geneticists can isolate a gene responsible for drought tolerance and
insert that gene into a different plant. The new genetically-modified plant
will gain drought tolerance as well.
Advantages
of Genetic Modification Organism:
· Genetically engineered organisms such as crops are given traits
such as bigger seeds or better resistance to pests.
· With animals, they might
give it genes to grow fatter or produce more milk.
· Plant biologists are working to create plants with
genetically-engineered resistance to diseases.
· In embryos, defective
genes can be removed.
Disadvantage of Genetic Modification Organism:
· Genetic modifications results in formation of Transgenic plants
and animals. So there may be a chance of loss of Genetic diversity upon wide
use of this process on particular species, if care is not taken to preserve
genetic material of the original organisms.
· Artificial Genetic modifications of a desired organism may results
in simultaneous Natural Genetic (or other) modifications of a undesired
organism. For example, on modifying a plant to be resistant to a particular
disease causing organism, the latter may acquire natural variations which may
enable it to infect other plant species not previously infected.
DNA Fingerprint
DNA fingerprinting also known as DNA typing or genetic fingerprinting is a procedure used to analyse a person’s unique collection of DNA fragment. The chemical structure of everyone's DNA is the same. The only difference between people (or any animal) is the order of the base pairs. There are so many millions of base pairs in each person's DNA that every person has a different sequence.
Using these sequences, every person could be identified solely by the sequence of their base pairs. However, because there are so many millions of base pairs, the task would be very time-consuming. Instead, scientists are able to use a shorter method, because of repeating patterns in DNA. These patterns do not, however, give an individual "fingerprint," but they are able to determine whether two DNA samples are from the same person, related people, or non-related people. Scientists use a small number of sequences of DNA that are known to vary among individuals a great deal, and analyze those to get a certain probability of a match. This is because each person has his own set of DNA which is unique to him.
Practical Applications of DNA Fingerprinting:
DNA fingerprinting is used to determine paternity, forensic crime analysis, population genetics to analyze variation within populations or ethnic groups, conservation biology to study the genetic variability of endangered species, test for the presence of specific pathogens in food sources, detect genetically modified organisms either within plants or food products, evolutionary biology to compare DNA extracts from fossils to modern day counterparts, and in the identification of victims of a disaster. Beside that, DNA fingerprinting also can be use to screen genetic disorders, track genes responsible for causing certain diseases, and test the compatibility of potential organ donors with patients.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Friday, July 8, 2016
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