{"id":485,"date":"2017-08-17T07:37:33","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T07:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/?page_id=485"},"modified":"2018-06-11T15:17:52","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T15:17:52","slug":"genetic-engineering","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/genetic-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"Genetic Engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"twelve columns\" style=\"margin-top: 10%;\">\n<div class=\"advance\"><a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/mendelian-genetics\">\u2b05 Previous Lesson<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/basic-science-core\">Workshop Index<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/fossils-evolution-diversity\">Next Lesson \u27a1<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- CONTENT BEGINS HERE --><\/p>\n<h1 id=\"title\">Genetic Engineering<\/h1>\n<h4>Objective<\/h4>\n<p>In this lesson, you will review genetic engineering. Scientists, regardless of their specialization, need to possess a basic level of science literacy across all disciplines. This lesson provides an overview of the major concepts pertaining to genetic engineering that all students of the sciences should know. The chapters that follow will focus in greater detail on these ideas.<\/p>\n<h4>Previously Covered:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Mendel set the stage for our understanding of genetics by pointing out that both parents contribute to traits seen in their offspring. Once Mendel\u2019s work was rediscovered, the ball really started rolling!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<section><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"u-pull-right padding\" src=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/08\/thumb9.jpg\" alt=\"Genetics Timeline\" \/>Once the idea of chromosomes carrying genetic information had been put forth by Sutton in 1903, scientists set out to determine just what chromosomes were and how they worked. Within the next 50 years, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) had been identified as the molecule carrying the code and the exact structure of the double helix was worked out. Fifteen years later, the genetic code was cracked. By the early 1970s, <abbr title=\"an endonuclease that will recognize a specific target nucleotide sequence in DNA and break the DNA chain at the target; a variety of these enzymes are known, and they are extensively used in genetic engineering\">restriction enzymes<\/abbr> and <abbr title=\"an enzyme that occurs naturally capable of catalyzing the formation and repair of DNA or RNA\">polymerases<\/abbr> were discovered; the polymerase change reaction (PCR) was developed in the mid-1980s, and the field of genetic engineering was born.\u00a0DNA is replicated in living things when an enzyme called DNA polymerase builds complementary strands from free nucleotides in the cell nucleus. Restriction enzymes occur naturally in bacteria to help them cut up viral DNA and render it harmless. Once biologists understood the mechanisms of these enzymes, they were able to build DNA strands in tubes. The first genetic engineers recognized that restriction enzymes could also be used to isolate gene sequences by cutting the DNA strand in the right place. By cutting DNA to produce a template for a desired gene product and using polymerases to build complementary strands, designer genes became a reality.Transgenic organisms are produced using recombinant DNA (rDNA), which is produced from more than one organism. Bacteria are the most common transgenic organisms and are used by the pharmaceutical industry to produce medicinal products, such as human growth hormone and insulin. <abbr title=\"A small ring of DNA that carries accessory genes separate from those of a bacterial chromosome; especially found in bacteria\">Plasmids<\/abbr> can be used to insert the human gene into the bacterial genome. The bacteria then are stimulated to produce the protein. In some cases, viral vectors may be used to insert the foreign gene.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"u-pull-left padding\" src=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/08\/transgenic.jpg\" alt=\"Transgenic Mice\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Some transgenic bacteria have been modified to assist in <abbr title=\"the use of microorganisms to break down pollutants or waste such as contaminated groundwater, industrial wastes or oil spills\">bioremediation<\/abbr>, such as those used to quickly break down oil spills in the ocean. Organisms can be custom engineered to act on specific compounds. Many industrial pollutants might be broken down or neutralized using custom-made decomposers!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"u-pull-right padding\" src=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/08\/bioremediation.jpg\" alt=\"Bioremediation\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Many types of transgenic organisms have been produced and are used extensively in plant and animal agriculture. Many food crops have been genetically altered to have increased resistance to pests and disease, or to improve yield. Animals are being modified to have more lean meat and less fat. Some scientists are now trying gene pharming \u2013 the introduction of genes to produce drugs into food crops, such as tomatoes or bananas.<\/p>\n<section class=\"question\">\n<h4>Question<\/h4>\n<p>How are transgenic organisms used in bioremediation?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>They are engineered to produce human insulin to treat diabetes.<\/li>\n<li>They are created to increase crop resistance to disease and pests.<\/li>\n<li>They are custom designed to break down specific environmental pollutants.<\/li>\n<li>They are used to clone non-pathogenic bacteria.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><a class=\"q-answer button button-primary\">Reveal Answer<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"q-reveal\">The correct answer is C. Bioremediation is about using living things to clean up the environment, genetically engineered or not!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>Cloning of animals is a type of genetic engineering. It involves putting a diploid nucleus into an egg from which the haploid nucleus has been removed. The diploid egg is then stimulated to undergo division, and the resulting embryo is implanted into a surrogate mother.<\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/08\/cloning.jpg\" alt=\"Animal cloning\" \/><\/center>The human genome \u2013 the sequence of all 3 billion nucleotide bases that make up human chromosomes \u2013 was completed in 2003. Thus far, scientists have found that only 3% of the entire genome consists of genes that code for anything. The remaining 97% consists of what scientists have labeled \u201cjunk DNA&#8221;, whose purpose remains a mystery.<\/p>\n<section class=\"question\">\n<h4>Question<\/h4>\n<p>Which is an example of genetic engineering?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Rapid amplification of DNA sequences<\/li>\n<li>Application of an orthopoxvirus<\/li>\n<li>Breeding of two dog species to produce a new cadaver dog<\/li>\n<li>Oral vaccine produced naturally in fruit<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><a class=\"q-answer button button-primary\">Reveal Answer<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"q-reveal\">D is the correct answer. Choice A refers to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Choice B refers to biological warfare; smallpox is an example of an orthopoxvirus. Choice C refers to the ancient practice of selective breeding to produce a desired trait.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<h3>Summary<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Transgenic organisms are produced using restriction enzymes and polymerases to make rDNA. They are used in drug production, bioremediation, and agriculture.<\/li>\n<li>Genetic engineering has many applications in industry, health, and environment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- CONTENT ENDS HERE --><\/p>\n<div class=\"advance\"><a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/mendelian-genetics\">\u2b05 Previous Lesson<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/basic-science-core\">Workshop Index<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/fossils-evolution-diversity\">Next Lesson \u27a1<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a class=\"backtotop\" href=\"#title\">Back to Top<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2b05 Previous Lesson\u00a0Workshop Index\u00a0Next Lesson \u27a1 Genetic Engineering Objective In this lesson, you will review genetic engineering. Scientists, regardless of their specialization, need to possess a basic level of science literacy across all disciplines. This lesson provides an overview of the major concepts pertaining to genetic engineering that all students of the sciences should know. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-485","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1291,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485\/revisions\/1291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}