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2 Biotechnology - The use of gene science to create new products from plants and animals

Selective Breeding Also known as artificial selection Breed individuals with the desired trait together and the offspring should have the desired trait Often followed with inbreeding – breeding two of the offspring 3

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7 Biotechnology Provides: Improved food products Longer shelf life, growing in more arid/colder environments, containing more vitamins Medical advances Creation and implementation of many medicines

Medical Advances: Diabetes and insulin With no effective treatment aside from a semi- starvation diet, a diabetic's outlook appeared grim. Before 1922, diabetic children rarely lived a year after diagnosis, 5% of adults died within two years, and less than 20% lived more than ten. Untreated diabetics faced blindness, loss of limbs, kidney failure, stroke, heart attack and. 1869: It was discovered that those who died from diabetes all had a similar issue in their pancreas with the cells that created insulin 1920: insulin was extracted for the first time and used as an experiment on diabetic dogs 1922: The first human to received insulin. Leonard Thompson, a 14-year old boy dying of diabetes in Toronto. Thompson recovered and was discharged from the hospital 4 months later. With nothing to lose, many dying diabetics volunteered to be treated with insulin and had similar positive results 8

Death was averted but people with diabetes still suffered from allergic reactions and sores on the skin where they injected it. The insulin used was “impure” and generally a mixture from cows and pigs. Biosynthetic Insulin, introduced in 1983, was the first biotech product released and eliminated the need for animal pancreases. Synthesized insulin eliminates potential allergic reactions. Most insulins today are chemically identical to natural human insulin. 9 Medical Advances: Diabetes and insulin

Recombinant DNA and Transgenic organisms Easiest organisms to use recombinant DNA on are bacteria because they take in loose DNA in a process call transformation. They also have “extra” DNA in their cells in the form of Plasmids. 10 Recombinant DNA – dna that is formed using parts from different organisms Transgenic organism – an organism that contains recombinant DNA

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12 Insulin: How did we do it?

13 Insulin: How did we do it?

14 One cell with the recombinant plasmid A fermentor used to grow recombinant bacteria. * Growing bacteria is asexual reproduction – similar to mitosis but since they don’t have a nucleus (prokaryotes!) it is called binary fission Insulin: How did we do it?

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16 Biotechnology Breakthroughs Rice Enriched with beta-carotene and iron to benefit third world countries plagued by malnutrition Bananas Containing edible hepatitis vaccine making it capable to distribute in widespread easy manner Bacteria Used to break down oil after oil spills Viruses Used to target diseases and fight cancer

17 Benefits Reduced pesticide/herbicide use Lower energy requirements Treat diseases Solves food production problems Greater crop yields Healthier products Downside: Future increase in greater use of pesticides/herbicides Create “super bugs” and “super weeds” Possible health ramifications Playing “God” Should they label products? Can you “own” a gene? The great debate …