Genetic Engineering and Cloning

Genetic Engineering

• The basic idea of genetic engineering is to transfer a gene responsible for a desirable characteristic from one organism's genome to another organism, so that it also has that characteristic. 
• A useful gene is isolated from one organism's genome using enzymes and is inserted into a vector.
• The vector is usually a virus or a bacterial plasmid depending on the type of organism that the gene is being transferred to.
• When the vector is introduced to the target organism. the useful gene is inserted into its cells.
• Bacteria have been genetically modified to produce human insulin that can be used to treat diabetes.
• Genetically modified crops have had their genes modified to improve the size and quality of their fruit or make them resistant to disease, insects and herbicides.
• Sheep have been genetically engineered to produce substances, like drugs, in their milk that can be used to treat human diseases.
• Scientists are researching genetic modification treatments for inherited diseases caused by faulty genes, e,g, by inserting working genes into people with the disease. This is called gene therapy.
• In some cases, the transfer of the gene is carried out when the organism receiving the gene is at an early stage of development. This means that the organism develops with the characteristic coded for by the gene.
• Genetic engineering has the potential to solve many of our problems but not everyone thinks it is a good idea.
• There are worries about the long-term effects of genetic engineering- that changing an organism's genes might accidentally create unplanned problems, which could get passed in to future generations.
• Some people say that growing more GM crops will cause the number of wild flowers (and so the number of insects) that live in and around the crops- reducing farmland biodiversity.
• Not everyone is convinced that GM crops are safe and some people are concerned that we might not fully understand the effects of eating them on human health. E.g. people are worried that they may develop allergies to the food- although there's no more risk for this than for eating normal foods.
• A big concern is that transplanted genes may get…