Genetic Engineering

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  • Created by: Fatima
  • Created on: 10-06-13 15:58

Genetic Engineering

Advantages

  • The large scale production of complex proteins/peptides that can't be made by other methods
  • The production of higher yielding crops with superior keeping properties
  • The health benefits for treating genetic diseases

Disadvantages

  • Very expensive on industrial scale
  • Possibility of misuse
  • Germ-line therapy; defective genes replaced with healthy genes inside fertilized egg. The offspring develops with the defective gene eliminated and so it can't be passed on to future generations. This introduces the ethical question of whether scientists have the right to alter genotypes of future generations. Some genes have no apparent function, except for to "off" other genes. Tampering with genes could have unforeseen effects in future generations
  • A newly inserted gene could disrupt normal function e.g. potentially dangerous organism with a new gene could become a dangerous pathogen if it is released into the environment
  • Bacteria readily exchange genetic material so the recombinant DNA may get in to other organisms e.g. herbicide resistance could be transferred to weeds
  • The deliberate use of antibiotic resistant genes in E.coli, which lives in the human gut, and the possibility that these genes could be accidentally transferred to human pathogens
  • The possibility of the transfer of DNA with linked pathogenic genes, e.g. oncogenes increasing cancer risks

Evaluation

Scientists take precautions; work on potentially dangerous pathogens is restricted to isolated, highly specialised labs. 

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