Genetically Modified Organisms

GOAL: Change an organism to give it new traits Benefits can include: healthier, stronger, faster growing, new variety, needed or desired traits Possible because ALL organisms use the same genetic code

Artificial Selection Selectively breed organisms for a desired traits Crops & animals have been bred by farmers Artificial selected organisms are common

Biotechnology Directly changing or manipulating an organisms DNA to make new traits. Also called genetic engineering

Genomics Sequenced and identified all of the DNA and mapped where every gene is on each chromosome

Proteomics Study of all the proteins and their function Not all DNA codes for a protein (introns) Micro array We can also study just mRNA since it directly codes for a protein

Genetic Engineering If we know the protein or the mRNA sequence we can work backwards determine the gene and manipulate it by: 1) Inserting a new a gene 2) Altering a gene 3) Deleting or turning off a gene (gene knockout)

Recombinant DNA = DNA that contains genes from more than one organism EX. Plasmid containing human gene for insulin Transgenic Organisms = Organisms that contain genes from other species in their DNA EX. Bacteria containing the recombinant DNA Most people refer to this technique as Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)