Combined ScienceCode 5129
Biotechnology and genetic modification
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- Describe genetic modification as altering an organism's genetic material by taking out, putting in or modifying single genes
- Understand the reasons bacteria are useful for biotechnology and genetic modification: they reproduce at a rapid rate, they are able to make complex molecules, and there are no ethical concerns about manipulating and growing them
- Appreciate that the gene governing human insulin synthesis is placed into bacterial DNA to allow insulin to be produced commercially.
- State that crop plants may undergo genetic modification so they: resist herbicides, resist insect pests, can produce extra vitamins.