What is Genetic Engineering?
Genetic engineering usually involves taking genes from one species and inserting them into another in an attempt to transfer a desired trait or character. An example would be selecting a gene that leads to the production of a chemical with antifreeze properties from an arctic fish, and splicing it into a potato or tomato in an attempt to make it frost-resistant.
Genetic engineering is a set of laboratory techniques for isolating genetic material from organisms, cutting and rejoining it to make new combinations, multiplying copies of the recombined genetic material (also called recombinant DNA) and transferring it into organisms, bypassing the process of reproduction. Genes can be exchanged between species that would never interbreed in nature. Thus, spider genes end up in the goat, human genes in plants, mice, and bacteria, and bacterial genes in plants.
Genetic engineering allows scientists to select genes that produce beneficial traits and move them from one organism to another, which results in the organisms displaying those beneficial traits and improved agricultural production. This translates into more productive crops; crops with resistance to certain pests, fungi, bacteria or viruses; and crops with better quality, just to name a few. In addition, genetic engineering can be used to produce valuable compounds such as vaccines, therapeutic products or nutritional supplements.
Genetic engineering refers to a set of technologies that are being used to change the genetic makeup of cells and move genes across species boundaries to produce novel organisms. The techniques involve highly sophisticated manipulations of genetic material and other biologically important chemicals. Genes are the chemical blueprints that determine an organism’s traits. Moving genes from one organism to another transfers those traits. Through genetic engineering, organisms are given new combinations of genes—and therefore new combinations of traits—that do not occur in nature and, indeed, cannot be developed by natural means. Such an artificial technology is radically different from traditional plant and animal breeding. Novel organisms Nature can produce organisms with new gene combinations through sexual reproduction. A brown cow bred to a yellow cow may produce a calf of a completely new color. But reproductive mechanisms limit the number of new combinations. Cows must breed with oth
Genetic engineering is a radical new technology that allows scientists to move genes between different species. Using laboratory techniques scientists can create life-forms that could not occur in nature. Genes are small lengths of DNA, the living blueprint of life found in the cells of all living things. Genetic engineers use viruses, bacteria and a device called a gene gun to randomly move genes from one organism into another. These techniques are used to make plants grow differently. For example, a gene from an arctic flounder fish was added to the DNA of tomatoes in order to make the tomatoes resist the cold. Clearly, this would never happen through natural evolution.
