Understanding Genetic Engineering Essay - 1835 Words

What if cancer could be cured by eating a pear? Or if a crop of wheat could be developed so that it never rotted? These may sound like science fiction but theyre not as strange as they first seem to be, and may even be reality in the future. Fifteen years ago who would have thought that plants could be created to be immune to pesticides or that it would be possible to create a sheep that is exactly like its parent in every physical way? And yet both of these currently exist due to genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is a developing science that is viewed with a lot of public apprehension. No one seems to be able to explain what genetic engineering is, when it first began, or what the possibilities are for the future of this science.†¦show more content†¦Each rung of the ladder connects correlating pieces of information. There are four different connections, called DNA bases: adenine connects to thymine, and guanine connects to cytosine. Each pair forms a rung on the la dder. See figure 2 in the appendix. Although these four DNA bases can be placed in any different order, the correlating base will always be found on the opposite side of the ladder. Because there is no limit to the number of times that a base can be repeated there are unlimited possibilities for base combinations. Certain patterns in the DNA bases tell the cell what it will become. These patterns are called genes. Genetic engineering uses three different techniques to rearrange the pattern of the DNA bases and form different genes. The first of these techniques is called either the plasmid method or recombinant DNA. Plasmids are small rings of DNA that are separate from the chromosomes, these are often found in bacteria and can be easily manipulated using other bacteria or viruses(Call). The DNA code is broken by the bacteria or virus and a new pattern is able to be inserted into the DNA. The cell then reads the information and begins to produce the new trait. Another way of c hanging the genes is to use a needle to inject the new code into the cell. This process is called microinjection, and it is most easily done with larger cells. The third technique is called bioballistics; itShow MoreRelatedGenetic Engineering : The Field Of Biomedical Research1710 Words   |  7 PagesGenetic engineering is the latest experimental practice used in the world of biomedical research. This practice refers to humans modifying an animals’ genetic component in order to express a particular trait (Dale et al). The scientific community calls the animals produced by this practice as transgenic animals in order to distinguish between its wild type relative. This innovative technology paved ways for medical breakthroughs, along with the expansion of human understanding towards the mechanismsRead MoreDustin Peacher . Engl 1302.C09. Professor Mccovery. 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