Gene Technology And Its Effects On Agriculture

Restriction enzymes are a tool that allows us to pinpoint human identity down to single differences in our DNA. Work through the following simulation so you can see these molecular scissors in action.

1. If each individual has such a small amount of DNA, how do the bands on the gel contain enough DNA to be visible?

In a perfect world, what would everyone have? Well, they most likely would have good health, money, stability, and proper environment to live very productive lives. This is what people strive to have, but very few receive. Why? There are many reasons. One reason might be the lack of agricultural advancement in many countries. If these countries were to embrace genetically modified crops, the citizens would have much better lives. According to Osakabe, Yuriko, Kajita, and Osakabe, in their article “Genetic Engineering Of Woody Plants: Current And Future Targets In A Stressful Environment”, genetic engineering in plants is better than traditional breeding methods because “…they bypass the long generation for breeding…” (106).

Restriction Enzyme Digestion – The experiment was begun after putting on gloves to avoid any chemical contact with the skin. Four microtest tubes were obtained, and each of them was labeled to contain the different enzymes or suspect DNA. Two of the microtest tubes were used for suspect one and the two different restriction enzymes, while two other microtest tubes were labeled for suspect two and the two restriction enzymes. After labeling the tubes, the contents that were at the bottom were taken out by slightly tapping them. Then to begin setting up the enzyme reactions, a micropipette was used to obtain 10 μL of the reaction buffer which was added to each of the four test tubes. The buffer is important because it carries the electrical current from the power supply in the gel. After the reaction buffer was in each, the microtest tubes were individually filled with their specific enzymes and DNA, shown in summary through Table 1.1 below. The restriction enzymes are used to cleave the DNA at specific

PCR permits the synthesis of millions of copies of a specific nucleotide sequence in a few hours. It can amplify the sequence, even when the targeted sequence makes up less than one part in a million of the total initial sample. Steps of the PCR cycle are shown in below figure.

2. Biotechnology means "the exploitation of biological processes for industrial and other purposes, especially the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, etc." This basically gives off what Biotechnology is. In simpler terms Biotechnology studies living organisms and how it could b useful to us humans. The knowledge analyzed from the organisms allows researches and scientist to transfer genes between other cells and different organisms. The use of this is to help analyze these things to produce products that would be useful for the economy. There is two basic Biotechnologies and these are Traditional Biotechnology

A restriction enzyme is an enzyme that acts as a catalyst that can cut a strand of DNA in a particular place.

1. Background/Introductions: Hormones are a regulatory substance produced in an organism and transported in blood to stimulate target cells or tissues into action. There are many glands and lobes in the endocrine system that produce hormones, but for this experiment we are particularly interested in the pituitary gland and the intermediate lobe because those are the two parts of it that produce Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MHS). These hormones are peptide hormones that are produced in response to UV light, but are not a direct feedback mechanism. When the hormones are secreted out of the glands, they travel through the bloodstream until they reach melanocytes located in the skin between the epidermal and dermal layers, where they transport

The purpose of the DNA restriction and electrophoresis lab was to first become familiar with the properties of restriction enzymes and discover that they, along with agarose gel electrophoresis, are used to characterize DNA molecules. Restriction enzymes are used to make cuts or join together DNA fragments. The cuts result in either staggered cleavage, or blunt cleavage. Staggered cleavage results when the breaks are offset. This cleavage usually results in sticky end being produced because for each DNA end that is produced there are extensions with unpaired nucleotide bases. Blunt cleavage results when the breaks in the phosphodiester bonds are right across from each other.

Altering the genome, or genetic makeup of an organism has traditionally been completed through a method called genetic engineering, or genetic modification, both are the same. Genetic engineering is usually completed by first identifying a specific gene in one species, extracting it from that species, and inserting it into another species, all on a cellular level. For example, imagine that there were two species of corn. One species of corn yields large bounties of corn, but has small kernels that are difficult to process. The second species has very large kernels but yields very little corn. For anyone selling corn, it seems obvious that if one could somehow combine the best qualities of each plant,

Restriction enzymes cut DNA at certain sites to create multiple DNA fragments. Restriction enzyme HindIII has known DNA fragment lengths and recognition sites when digesting lambda DNA, while the lambda DNA recognition site for restriction enzyme XhoI is unknown. The goal of this study is to determine the lambda recognition site of XhoI by comparing a HindIII digest and a HindIII and XhoI double digest on an electrophoresis gel. The HindIII digest had a band at 9.4 kb, but this band was not visible in the double digest, therefore we concluded the recognition site for XhoI was around 9.4kb. There were also two additional DNA

Experiment 4 & 5: PCR did not work for my obtained DNA as there was no evidence of movement of the DNA. PCR did work for lab numbers 33 and 12. The size of my fragment could not be determined and cannot compare to the size that was expected. The negative control was clean as there was no traces of movements.

Enzymes are applied to DNA to break it into smaller pieces which are called restriction endonucleases. These restriction endonucleases become

Among the millions of species that inhabit the planet, only twenty species provide ninety percent of the human food supply (Montgomery 2000). Since the introduction of genetic engineering, however, livestock and crops have a more productive future. Transfer of engineered genes from organism to organism occurs through hybridization, conjugation, and transformation in microorganisms. By the substitution of genes into agricultural species, biodiversity can flourish to improve social and economic development. Although methods of gene and DNA implantation quickly develop advanced products, even precise genetic alterations do not ensure that the environment will remain balanced or that changes in

The polymerase chain reaction or PCR for short can be used to create many copies of DNA. This allows the DNA to then be visualized using a dye like ethidium bromide after gel electrophoresis. The process has been refined over the years, however the basic steps are similar.