GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM) ORGANISMS Recombinant DNA technology is producing new genetic varieties of plants and animals Use Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens as the vector  GM plant – ex: soybeans and cotton crops receive bacterial genes to make them resistant to herbicides and pests – ex: “golden rice” = rice with a few daffodil genes added. Rice plant can now make B-carotene, needed for vitamin A production in humans. Vitamin A deficiency (and resulting blindness) is a serious problem for ½ of the world who depend on rice as their staple food. Ti plasmid animation

Genes from other organisms are inserted into their genomes Involves in vitro fertilization and injection of desired gene directly into fertilized eggs Engineered embryos are implanted into a surrogate mother Ex: pigs with human cell lines for organ donation Ex: chickens produce eggs with additional proteins Q: Is it ethical? What are the risks? Transgenic Animals: contain genes from other animals If GM crops pass genes for pesticide and herbicide resistance to weeds  superweeds that would be very difficult to destroy

A clone is an individual created by asexual reproduction genetically identical to a single parent –Cloning has many benefits but evokes just as many concerns To Clone or Not to Clone?

Nuclear transplantation can be used to clone animals * Reproductive cloning of nonhuman mammals is useful in research, agriculture, and medicine * Therapeutic cloning produces stem cells which can perpetuate themselves in culture and give rise to differentiated cells cloning stem cell research