Category Archives: Genetic Engineering

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Would you want to clone your pet? Would you change your child's eye color? Do you care if your strawberry contains a gene for fish?

Explore More: Genetic Engineering tells you the story, gives you the facts, and then takes a closer look to help you unravel the core issues. Take a look at and interact with the content. Discuss what you learn with other people, form your own opinion on the subjects, but always keep an open mind.

As you go through this site, think about how genetic engineering is changing the way we live. This is a fascinating area that deserves our attention. Decisions and choices we make in our lifetime will affect how and why genetic engineering is used.

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Explore More: Genetic Engineering - iptv.org

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Tweaks to a transformation protocol in 1986 cemented the little plant's mighty role in plant genetics research.

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Other government authorities have yet to evaluate a proposal aimed at reducing populations of Zika-carrying insects in Florida.

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Researchers engineer bacteria that deliver an anti-tumor toxin in mice before self-destructing.

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A National Academiesled analysis evaluates the impacts of genetically engineered cropsand calls for updated regulations.

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Researchers use a gene editor to introduce an allele that eliminates the horned traitand thus, the need for an expensive and painful process of dehorningin dairy cows.

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Monkeys genetically engineered with multiple copies of an autism-linked human gene display some autism-like behaviors, scientists show.

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Genetically modified bacteria that dont survive unless given an unnatural amino acid could serve as a new control measure to protect wild organisms and ecosystems against accidental release.

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By Kerry Grens | December 24, 2015

The Scientists choice of major improvements in imaging, optogenetics, single-cell analyses, and CRISPR

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By Kerry Grens | December 21, 2015

The first two bulls genetically engineered to lack horns arrived at the University of California, Davis, for breeding.

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By Kate Yandell | December 7, 2015

Kill switches ensure that genetically engineered bacteria survive only in certain environmental conditions.

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Recent Articles | Genetic Engineering | The Scientist ...

What is genetic engineering? Genetic engineering is the process of manually adding new DNA to an organism. The goal is to add one or more new traits that are not already found in that organism. Examples of genetically engineered (transgenic) organisms currently on the market include plants with resistance to some insects, plants that can tolerate herbicides, and crops with modified oil content.

Understanding Genetic Engineering: Basic Biology To understand how genetic engineering works, there are a few key biology concepts that must be understood.

Small segments of DNA are called genes. Each gene holds the instructions for how to produce a single protein. This can be compared to a recipe for making a food dish. A recipe is a set of instructions for making a single dish.

An organism may have thousands of genes. The set of all genes in an organism is called a genome. A genome can be compared to a cookbook of recipes that makes that organism what it is. Every cell of every living organism has a cookbook.

CONCEPT #2: Why are proteins important? Proteins do the work in cells. They can be part of structures (such as cell walls, organelles, etc). They can regulate reactions that take place in the cell. Or they can serve as enzymes, which speed-up reactions. Everything you see in an organism is either made of proteins or the result of a protein action.

How is genetic engineering done? Genetic engineering, also called transformation, works by physically removing a gene from one organism and inserting it into another, giving it the ability to express the trait encoded by that gene. It is like taking a single recipe out of a cookbook and placing it into another cookbook.

1) First, find an organism that naturally contains the desired trait.

2) The DNA is extracted from that organism. This is like taking out the entire cookbook.

3) The one desired gene (recipe) must be located and copied from thousands of genes that were extracted. This is called gene cloning.

4) The gene may be modified slightly to work in a more desirable way once inside the recipient organism.

5) The new gene(s), called a transgene is delivered into cells of the recipient organism. This is called transformation. The most common transformation technique uses a bacteria that naturally genetically engineer plants with its own DNA. The transgene is inserted into the bacteria, which then delivers it into cells of the organism being engineered. Another technique, called the gene gun method, shoots microscopic gold particles coated with copies of the transgene into cells of the recipient organism. With either technique, genetic engineers have no control over where or if the transgene inserts into the genome. As a result, it takes hundreds of attempts to achieve just a few transgenic organisms.

6) Once a transgenic organism has been created, traditional breeding is used to improve the characteristics of the final product. So genetic engineering does not eliminate the need for traditional breeding. It is simply a way to add new traits to the pool.

How does genetic engineering compare to traditional breeding? Although the goal of both genetic engineering and traditional plant breeding is to improve an organisms traits, there are some key differences between them.

While genetic engineering manually moves genes from one organism to another, traditional breeding moves genes through mating, or crossing, the organisms in hopes of obtaining offspring with the desired combination of traits.

genetic engineering

Using the recipe analogy, traditional breeding is like taking two cookbooks and combining every other recipe from each into one cookbook. The product is a new cookbook with half of the recipes from each original book. Therefore, half of the genes in the offspring of a cross come from each parent.

Traditional breeding is effective in improving traits, however, when compared with genetic engineering, it does have disadvantages. Since breeding relies on the ability to mate two organisms to move genes, trait improvement is basically limited to those traits that already exist within that species. Genetic engineering, on the other hand, physically removes the genes from one organism and places them into the other. This eliminates the need for mating and allows the movement of genes between organisms of any species. Therefore, the potential traits that can be used are virtually unlimited.

Breeding is also less precise than genetic engineering. In breeding, half of the genes from each parent are passed on to the offspring. This may include many undesirable genes for traits that are not wanted in the new organism. Genetic engineering, however, allows for the movement of a single, or a few, genes.

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UNL's AgBiosafety for Educators

Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering, also known as recombinant DNA technology, means altering the genes in a living organism to produce a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) with a new genotype. Various kinds of genetic modification are possible: inserting a foreign gene from one species into another, forming a transgenic organism; altering an existing gene so that its product is changed; or changing gene expression so that it is translated more often or not at all.

Genetic engineering is a very young discipline, and is only possible due to the development of techniques from the 1960s onwards. Watson and Crick have made these techniques possible from our greater understanding of DNA and how it functions following the discovery of its structure in 1953. Although the final goal of genetic engineering is usually the expression of a gene in a host, in fact most of the techniques and time in genetic engineering are spent isolating a gene and then cloning it. This table lists the techniques that we shall look at in detail.

1

cDNA

To make a DNA copy of mRNA

2

To cut DNA at specific points, making small fragments

3

DNA Ligase

To join DNA fragments together

4

Vectors

To carry DNA into cells and ensure replication

5

Plasmids

Common kind of vector

6

Gene Transfer

To deliver a gene to a living cells

7

Genetic Markers

To identify cells that have been transformed

8

To make exact copies of bacterial colonies on an agar plate

9

PCR

To amplify very small samples of DNA

10

DNA probes

To identify and label a piece of DNA containing a certain sequence

11

Shotgun *

To find a particular gene in a whole genome

12

Antisense genes *

To stop the expression of a gene in a cell

13

Gene Synthesis

To make a gene from scratch

14

Electrophoresis

To separate fragments of DNA

* Additional information that is not directly included in AS Biology. However it can help to consolidate other techniques.

Complementary DNA (cDNA) is DNA made from mRNA. This makes use of the enzyme reverse transcriptase, which does the reverse of transcription: it synthesises DNA from an RNA template. It is produced naturally by a group of viruses called the retroviruses (which include HIV), and it helps them to invade cells. In genetic engineering reverse transcriptase is used to make an artificial gene of cDNA as shown in this diagram.

Complementary DNA has helped to solve different problems in genetic engineering:

It makes genes much easier to find. There are some 70 000 genes in the human genome, and finding one gene out of this many is a very difficult (though not impossible) task. However a given cell only expresses a few genes, so only makes a few different kinds of mRNA molecule. For example the b cells of the pancreas make insulin, so make lots of mRNA molecules coding for insulin. This mRNA can be isolated from these cells and used to make cDNA of the insulin gene.

These are enzymes that cut DNA at specific sites. They are properly called restriction endonucleases because they cut the bonds in the middle of the polynucleotide chain. Some restriction enzymes cut straight across both chains, forming blunt ends, but most enzymes make a staggered cut in the two strands, forming sticky ends.

The cut ends are sticky because they have short stretches of single-stranded DNA with complementary sequences. These sticky ends will stick (or anneal) to another piece of DNA by complementary base pairing, but only if they have both been cut with the same restriction enzyme. Restriction enzymes are highly specific, and will only cut DNA at specific base sequences, 4-8 base pairs long, called recognition sequences.

Restriction enzymes are produced naturally by bacteria as a defence against viruses (they restrict viral growth), but they are enormously useful in genetic engineering for cutting DNA at precise places ("molecular scissors"). Short lengths of DNA cut out by restriction enzymes are called restriction fragments. There are thousands of different restriction enzymes known, with over a hundred different recognition sequences. Restriction enzymes are named after the bacteria species they came from, so EcoR1 is from E. coli strain R, and HindIII is from Haemophilis influenzae.

This enzyme repairs broken DNA by joining two nucleotides in a DNA strand. It is commonly used in genetic engineering to do the reverse of a restriction enzyme, i.e. to join together complementary restriction fragments.

The sticky ends allow two complementary restriction fragments to anneal, but only by weak hydrogen bonds, which can quite easily be broken, say by gentle heating. The backbone is still incomplete.

DNA ligase completes the DNA backbone by forming covalent bonds. Restriction enzymes and DNA ligase can therefore be used together to join lengths of DNA from different sources.

In biology a vector is something that carries things between species. For example the mosquito is a disease vector because it carries the malaria parasite into humans. In genetic engineering a vector is a length of DNA that carries the gene we want into a host cell. A vector is needed because a length of DNA containing a gene on its own wont actually do anything inside a host cell. Since it is not part of the cells normal genome it wont be replicated when the cell divides, it wont be expressed, and in fact it will probably be broken down pretty quickly. A vector gets round these problems by having these properties:

It is big enough to hold the gene we want (plus a few others), but not too big.

It is circular (or more accurately a closed loop), so that it is less likely to be broken down (particularly in prokaryotic cells where DNA is always circular).

It contains control sequences, such as a replication origin and a transcription promoter, so that the gene will be replicated, expressed, or incorporated into the cells normal genome.

It contain marker genes, so that cells containing the vector can be identified.

Many different vectors have been made for different purposes in genetic engineering by modifying naturally-occurring DNA molecules, and these are now available off the shelf. For example a cloning vector contains sequences that cause the gene to be copied (perhaps many times) inside a cell, but not expressed. An expression vector contains sequences causing the gene to be expressed inside a cell, preferably in response to an external stimulus, such as a particular chemical in the medium. Different kinds of vector are also available for different lengths of DNA insert:

Type of vector

Max length of DNA insert

10 kbp

Virus or phage

30 kbp

Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC)

500 kbp

Plasmids are by far the most common kind of vector, so we shall look at how they are used in some detail. Plasmids are short circular bits of DNA found naturally in bacterial cells. A typical plasmid contains 3-5 genes and there are usually around 10 copies of a plasmid in a bacterial cell. Plasmids are copied separately from the main bacterial DNA when the cell divides, so the plasmid genes are passed on to all daughter cells. They are also used naturally for exchange of genes between bacterial cells (the nearest they get to sex), so bacterial cells will readily take up a plasmid. Because they are so small, they are easy to handle in a test tube, and foreign genes can quite easily be incorporated into them using restriction enzymes and DNA ligase.

One of the most common plasmids used is the R-plasmid (or pBR322). This plasmid contains a replication origin, several recognition sequences for different restriction enzymes (with names like PstI and EcoRI), and two marker genes, which confer resistance to different antibiotics (ampicillin and tetracycline).

The diagram below shows how DNA fragments can be incorporated into a plasmid using restriction and ligase enzymes. The restriction enzyme used here (PstI) cuts the plasmid in the middle of one of the markergenes (well see why this is useful later). The foreign DNA anneals with the plasmid and is joined covalently by DNA ligase to form a hybrid vector (in other words a mixture or hybrid of bacterial and foreign DNA). Several other products are also formed: some plasmids will simply re-anneal with themselves to re-form the original plasmid, and some DNA fragments will join together to form chains or circles. Theses different products cannot easily be separated, but it doesnt matter, as the marker genes can be used later to identify the correct hybrid vector.

Vectors containing the genes we want must be incorporated into living cells so that they can be replicated or expressed. The cells receiving the vector are called host cells, and once they have successfully incorporated the vector they are said to be transformed. Vectors are large molecules which do not readily cross cell membranes, so the membranes must be made permeable in some way. There are different ways of doing this depending on the type of host cell.

Heat Shock. Cells are incubated with the vector in a solution containing calcium ions at 0C. The temperature is then suddenly raised to about 40C. This heat shock causes some of the cells to take up the vector, though no one knows why. This works well for bacterial and animal cells.

Electroporation. Cells are subjected to a high-voltage pulse, which temporarily disrupts the membrane and allows the vector to enter the cell. This is the most efficient method of delivering genes to bacterial cells.

Viruses. The vector is first incorporated into a virus, which is then used to infect cells, carrying the foreign gene along with its own genetic material. Since viruses rely on getting their DNA into host cells for their survival they have evolved many successful methods, and so are an obvious choice for gene delivery. The virus must first be genetically engineered to make it safe, so that it cant reproduce itself or make toxins. Three viruses are commonly used:

1. Bacteriophages (or phages) are viruses that infect bacteria. They are a very effective way of delivering large genes into bacteria cells in culture.

2. Adenoviruses are human viruses that causes respiratory diseases including the common cold. Their genetic material is double-stranded DNA, and they are ideal for delivering genes to living patients in gene therapy. Their DNA is not incorporated into the hosts chromosomes, so it is not replicated, but their genes are expressed.

The adenovirus is genetically altered so that its coat proteins are not synthesised, so new virus particles cannot be assembled and the host cell is not killed.

3. Retroviruses are a group of human viruses that include HIV. They are enclosed in a lipid membrane and their genetic material is double-stranded RNA. On infection this RNA is copied to DNA and the DNA is incorporated into the hosts chromosome. This means that the foreign genes are replicated into every daughter cell.

After a certain time, the dormant DNA is switched on, and the genes are expressed in all the host cells.

Plant Tumours. This method has been used successfully to transform plant cells, which are perhaps the hardest to do. The gene is first inserted into the Ti plasmid of the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and then plants are infected with the bacterium. The bacterium inserts the Ti plasmid into the plant cells' chromosomal DNA and causes a "crown gall" tumour. These tumour cells can be cultured in the laboratory and whole new plants grown from them by micropropagation. Every cell of these plants contains the foreign gene.

Gene Gun. This extraordinary technique fires microscopic gold particles coated with the foreign DNA at the cells using a compressed air gun. It is designed to overcome the problem of the strong cell wall in plant tissue, since the particles can penetrate the cell wall and the cell and nuclear membranes, and deliver the DNA to the nucleus, where it is sometimes expressed.

Micro-Injection. A cell is held on a pipette under a microscope and the foreign DNA is injected directly into the nucleus using an incredibly fine micro-pipette. This method is used where there are only a very few cells available, such as fertilised animal egg cells. In the rare successful cases the fertilised egg is implanted into the uterus of a surrogate mother and it will develop into a normal animal, with the DNA incorporated into the chromosomes of every cell.

Liposomes. Vectors can be encased in liposomes, which are small membrane vesicles (see module 1). The liposomes fuse with the cell membrane (and sometimes the nuclear membrane too), delivering the DNA into the cell. This works for many types of cell, but is particularly useful for delivering genes to cell in vivo (such as in gene therapy).

These are needed to identify cells that have successfully taken up a vector and so become transformed. With most of the techniques above less than 1% of the cells actually take up the vector, so a marker is needed to distinguish these cells from all the others. Well look at how to do this with bacterial host cells, as thats the most common technique.

A common marker, used in the R-plasmid, is a gene for resistance to an antibiotic such as tetracycline. Bacterial cells taking up this plasmid can make this gene product and so are resistant to this antibiotic. So if the cells are grown on a medium containing tetracycline all the normal untransformed cells, together with cells that have taken up DNA thats not in a plasmid (99%) will die. Only the 1% transformed cells will survive, and these can then be grown and cloned on another plate.

Replica plating is a simple technique for making an exact copy of an agar plate. A pad of sterile cloth the same size as the plate is pressed on the surface of an agar plate with bacteria growing on it. Some cells from each colony will stick to the cloth. If the cloth is then pressed onto a new agar plate, some cells will be deposited and colonies will grow in exactly the same positions on the new plate. This technique has a number of uses, but the most common use in genetic engineering is to help solve another problem in identifying transformed cells.

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Genetic Engineering - BiologyMad

"Genetic Engineering" is a song by British band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released as the first single from their fourth studio album Dazzle Ships. Frontman Andy McCluskey has noted that the song is not an attack on genetic engineering, as many assumed at the time, including veteran radio presenter Dave Lee Travis upon playing the song on BBC Radio 1. McCluskey stated: "I was very positive about the subject. People didn't listen to the lyrics...I think they automatically assumed it would be anti."[2]

Charting at number 20 on the UK Singles Chart, "Genetic Engineering" ended the band's run of four consecutive Top 10 hits in the UK. It was also a Top 20 hit in several European territories, and peaked at number 5 in Spain. It missed the United States Billboard Hot 100 but made number 32 on the Mainstream Rock chart. US critic Ned Raggett retrospectively lauded the "soaring", "enjoyable" single in a positive review of Dazzle Ships for AllMusic, asserting: "Why it wasn't a hit remains a mystery."[3]

Critics in prominent music publications have suggested that the first 45 seconds of the song were a direct influence on Radiohead's "Fitter Happier", which appears on that band's 1997 album OK Computer.[3][4][5] Theon Weber in Stylus argued that the Radiohead track is "deeply indebted" to "Genetic Engineering".[4] The synthesized speech featured on the track is taken from a Speak & Spell, an educational electronic toy developed by Texas Instruments in the 1970s intended to teach children with spelling.

The new song "4-Neu" was featured on the B side of both the 7" and 12" versions. The song was not included on the Dazzle Ships album and remained exclusive to this release until its inclusion in the Navigation: The OMD B-Sides album in 2001 and then on the remastered special edition of Dazzle Ships in 2008. The song continues the band's tradition of including more experimental tracks as B sides to singles. The song title is a tribute to 70's German band Neu!, a Krautrock band that were an important influence on Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys prior to OMD.[6] "4-Neu" was never performed live until the special performance of Dazzle Ships at The Museum of Liverpool in November 2014 and at the Dazzle Ships / Architecture & Morality live performances in London and Germany in May 2016.[7]

Side one

Side two

Side one

Side two

A promotional video for Genetic Engineering was made and is included on the Messages - Greatest Hits CD/DVD release (2008).

Apart from the extended '312mm version' the band also recorded the song for a John Peel radio session in 1983. This version was made available on the Peel Sessions 1979-1983 album release (2000).

OMD played the song live on The Tube during its first series in February 1983.

The song was performed live during the Dazzle Ships promotional tour but rarely since then, until more recent live performances shows in 2014 and 2016.[12]

"Genetic Engineering" was covered by indie rock band Eggs and released as a single in 1994.[13]

It was also covered by Another Sunny Day as a limited edition single in 1989 and as an extra track on the re-release of on their 'London Weekend' album.

Optiganally Yours recorded a cover for a "very low-key tribute compilation".[14]

More recently, it has been covered by the indie rock band Oxford Collapse as part of the Hann-Byrd EP released in 2008.

Link:
Genetic Engineering (song) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Genetic Engineering (GE) is a highly complicated and advanced branch of science which involves a wide range of techniques used in changing the genetic material in the DNA code in a living organism. 'Genetic Engineering' means the deliberate modification of the characters of an organism by the manipulation of its genetic material.Genetic engineering comes under the broad heading of Biotechnology. There is a great scope in this field as the demand for genetic engineers are growing in India as well as abroad.

A cell is the smallest living unit, the basic structural and functional unit of all living matter, whether a plant, an animal, humans or a fungus. While some organisms are single celled, others like plants, animals, humans etc are made up of a lot more cells. For eg humans have approximately 3 million cells. A cell is composed of a 'cell membrane' enclosing the whole cell, many 'organelles' equivalent to the organs in the body and a 'nucleus' which is the command centre of the cell. Inside the nucleus are the chromosomes which is the storage place for all genetic (hereditary) information which determines the nature and characteristics of an organism. This information is written along the thin thread, called DNA, a nucleic acid which constitutes the genes (units of heredity). The DNA governs cell growth and is responsible for the transmission of genetic information from one generation to the next.

Genetic engineering aims to re-arrange the sequence of DNA in gene using artificial methods. The work of a genetic engineer involves extracting the DNA out of one organism, changing it using chemicals or radiation and subsequently putting it back into the same or a different organism. For eg: genes and segments of DNA from one species is taken and put into another species. They also study how traits and characteristics are transmitted through the generations, and how genetic disorders are caused. Their research involves researching the causes and discovering potential cures if any.

Genetic engineering have specialisations related to plants, animals and human beings. Genetic engineering in plants and animals may be to improve certain natural characteristics of value, to increase resistance to disease or damage and to develop new characteristics etc. It is used to change the colour, size, texture etc of plants otherwise known as GM (Genetically Modified) foods.GE in humans can be to correct severe hereditary defects by introducing normal genes into cells in place of missing or defective ones.

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Genetic Engineering Careers in India : How to become a ...

A portrait of Khan Noonien Singh, a man who was a product of genetic engineering

Genetic engineering, or genetic manipulation was a process in which the DNA of an organism was selectively altered through artificial means. Genetic engineering was often used to produce "custom" organisms, such as for agricultural or medical purposes, as well as to produce biogenic weapons. The most common application of genetic engineering on intelligent beings in the Federation was corrective DNA resequencing for genetic disorders. A far more dubious application of genetic engineering was the genetic enhancement of individuals to produce improved senses, strength, intelligence, etc.

During Earth's 20th century, efforts to produce "superhumans" resulted in the Eugenics Wars. Genetically engineered individuals such as Khan Noonien Singh attempted to seize power. (TOS: "Space Seed")

This would lead to the banning of genetic engineering on Earth by the mid-22nd century, even research which could be used to cure critical illnesses. This ban was implemented because of the general fear of creating more tyrants such as Khan. It was also felt that parents would feel compelled to have their children genetically engineered, especially if "enhanced" individuals were allowed to compete in normal society.

Some, including geneticist Arik Soong, argued that it was simply convenient for humanity to denounce the attempts at genetic "improvement" of humanity, that it was inherently evil because of the Eugenics Wars. He argued that the source of the problem, in fact, wasn't the technology, but humanity's own inability to use it wisely. Imprisoned for, among other crimes, stealing the embryos of a number of Augment children, Soong wrote long treatises on the subject of genetic augmentations and improvements. His works were routinely taken and placed into storage (although his jailers often told him that his work was vaporized). Captain Jonathan Archer expressed his hope to Soong that research into genetic engineering that could cure life-threatening diseases would someday be resumed. (ENT: "Borderland", "The Augments")

Others, however, chose to establish isolated colonies, as became the case with the Genome colony on Moab IV, which was established in 2168. It became a notable and successful example of Human genetic engineering in which every individual was genetically tailored from birth to perform a specific role in society. However, after a five-day visit by the USS Enterprise-D when the ship came to the colony in an effort to save it from an approaching neutron star which, eventually, the craft was able to effectively redirect twenty-three colonists left the colony aboard the craft, possibly causing significant damage to the structure of their society. The reason for the societal split was that those who left the colony had realized their organized, pre-planned world had certain limitations, lacking opportunities to grow that were offered by the Enterprise. (TNG: "The Masterpiece Society")

By the 24th century, the United Federation of Planets allowed limited use of genetic engineering to correct existing genetically related medical conditions. Persons known to be genetically enhanced, however, were not allowed to serve in Starfleet, and were especially banned from practicing medicine. (TNG: "Genesis", DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume")

Nevertheless, some parents attempted to secretly have their children genetically modified. (DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume") Unfortunately, most of these operations were performed by unqualified physicians, resulting in severe psychological problems in the children due to their enhancements being only partially successful, such as a patient's senses being enhanced while their ability to process the resulting data remained at a Human norm. (DS9: "Statistical Probabilities")

In some cases, genetic engineering can be permitted to be performed in utero when dealing with a developing fetus to correct any potential genetic defects that could handicap the child as they grew up. Chakotay's family history included a defective gene that made those who possessed it prone to hallucinations, the gene afflicting his grandfather in Chakotay's youth, although the gene was suppressed in Chakotay himself. (VOY: "The Fight") In 2377, The Doctor performed prenatal genetic modification on Miral Paris to correct a spinal deviation, a congenital defect that tends to run in Klingon families; Miral's mother had undergone surgery to correct the defect in herself at a young age. (VOY: "Lineage")

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Genetic engineering - Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki

Genetic engineering is the process of removing a gene from one organism and putting it into another. Often, the removed genes are put into bacteria or yeast cells so that scientists can study the gene or the protein it produces more easily. Sometimes, genes are put into a plant or an animal.

One of the first genetic engineering advances involved the hormone insulin. Diabetes, a medical condition that affects millions of people, prevents the body from producing enough insulin necessary for cells to properly absorb sugar. Diabetics used to be treated with supplementary insulin isolated from pigs or cows. Although this insulin is very similar to human insulin, it is not identical. Bovine insulin is antigenic in humans. Antibodies produced against it would gradually destroy its efficacy.

Scientists got around the problem by putting the gene for human insulin into bacteria. The bacteria's cellular machinery, which is identical to the cellular machinery of all living things, "reads" the gene, and turns it into a protein-human insulin-through a process called translation.

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Interactives . DNA . Genetic Engineering

genetic engineering,the artificial manipulation, modification, and recombination of DNA or other nucleic acid molecules in order to modify an organism or population of organisms.

The term genetic engineering initially meant any of a wide range of techniques for the modification or manipulation of organisms through the processes of heredity and reproduction. As such, the term embraced both artificial selection and all the interventions of biomedical techniques, among them artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization (e.g., test-tube babies), sperm banks, cloning, and gene manipulation. But the term now denotes the narrower field of recombinant DNA technology, or gene cloning (see Figure), in which DNA molecules from two or more sources are combined either within cells or in vitro and are then inserted into host organisms in which they are able to propagate. Gene cloning is used to produce new genetic combinations that are of value to science, medicine, agriculture, or industry.

DNA is the carrier of genetic information; it achieves its effects by directing the synthesis of proteins. Most recombinant DNA technology involves the insertion of foreign genes into the plasmids of common laboratory strains of bacteria. Plasmids are small rings of DNA; they are not part of the bacteriums chromosome (the main repository of the organisms genetic information). Nonetheless, they are capable of directing protein synthesis, and, like chromosomal DNA, they are reproduced and passed on to the bacteriums progeny. Thus, by incorporating foreign DNA (for example, a mammalian gene) into a bacterium, researchers can obtain an almost limitless number of copies of the inserted gene. Furthermore, if the inserted gene is operative (i.e., if it directs protein synthesis), the modified bacterium will produce the protein specified by the foreign DNA.

A key step in the development of genetic engineering was the discovery of restriction enzymes in 1968 by the Swiss microbiologist Werner Arber. However, type II restriction enzymes, which are essential to genetic engineering for their ability to cleave a specific site within the DNA (as opposed to type I restriction enzymes, which cleave DNA at random sites), were not identified until 1969, when the American molecular biologist Hamilton O. Smith purified this enzyme. Drawing on Smiths work, the American molecular biologist Daniel Nathans helped advance the technique of DNA recombination in 197071 and demonstrated that type II enzymes could be useful in genetic studies. Genetic engineering itself was pioneered in 1973 by the American biochemists Stanley N. Cohen and Herbert W. Boyer, who were among the first to cut DNA into fragments, rejoin different fragments, and insert the new genes into E. coli bacteria, which then reproduced.

Genetic engineering has advanced the understanding of many theoretical and practical aspects of gene function and organization. Through recombinant DNA techniques, bacteria have been created that are capable of synthesizing human insulin, human growth hormone, alpha interferon, a hepatitis B vaccine, and other medically useful substances. Plants may be genetically adjusted to enable them to fix nitrogen, and genetic diseases can possibly be corrected by replacing bad genes with normal ones. Nevertheless, special concern has been focused on such achievements for fear that they might result in the introduction of unfavourable and possibly dangerous traits into microorganisms that were previously free of theme.g., resistance to antibiotics, production of toxins, or a tendency to cause disease.

The new microorganisms created by recombinant DNA research were deemed patentable in 1980, and in 1986 the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the sale of the first living genetically altered organisma virus, used as a pseudorabies vaccine, from which a single gene had been cut. Since then several hundred patents have been awarded for genetically altered bacteria and plants.

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genetic engineering | Britannica.com

Genetic engineering (GE for short) is about scientists altering the 'recipes' for making life the genes which you find in all living things. Doing this is very clever and seems to be very useful. Back in the 1990s, many 'Greens' campaigned against genetic engineering and still do. They predicted disaster but that hasn't happened. Nobody has died from eating genetically modified (GM) food. They were also worried about the private GE companies' ownership of the recipes genes for making these new life forms. So is genetic engineering okay? My guide explains the basics but it's up to you to make up your own mind about GE.

Finding your way around my GE Guide You can jump to any part that interests you from the table below. If you want to start at the beginning, click the green arrow below (forward to 'Genes, snails and whales').

Table of contents

Genes, snails and whales What makes you human or me a penguin? What are genes?

Tried and tested Life on Earth has been around for a long time so it's been well tested.

Adapt or die Only the fittest life survives. Here's how it does it.

Coils and corkscrews About that incredible stuff DNA.

Copycat: How DNA copies itself.

Read more from the original source:
Genetic engineering: a guide for kids by Tiki the Penguin