GENERAL

BIOLOGY II
LESSON 1 :
The four nitrogenous bases
in DNA are adenine,
RECOMBINANT cytosine, guanine, and
thymine. RNA contains
uracil, instead of thymine. A
What is DNA?
nucleotide within a chain
- Deoxyribonucleic acid makes up the genetic
(DNA) is a large biomolecule material of all known living
that contains the complete things. They also serve a
genetic information for an
organism. Every cell of living
organisms and many
viruses, contains DNA. The
basic building block of a
DNA molecule is called a
nucleotide, and a single
strand of DNA may contain

Although each DNA

molecule contains many of
Nucleotide is an these building blocks, only
organic molecule that four unique nucleotides are
is the building block of used to create the entire
DNA and RNA. They DNA sequence; these are
also have functions written as A, G, C and T.
related to cell Analogous to how the 26
signaling, metabolism, letters of the alphabet can
and enzyme reactions. be arranged to create
A nucleotide is made words with different
up of three parts: a meanings, these four
nucleotides can be
 To use another
analogy, think of the
genome as an entire
cookbook for an
organism, and each
gene is an individual
recipe in that
cookbook. When a
A - Adenosine
T - Thymine
C - Cytosine
Figure 2. A gene is a section of
G - Guanine a DNA molecule that contains
the information to build a single
protein

Because DNA contains

instructions for an organism
to create several different
proteins, it is useful to define
another sub- unit of DNA
called genes (shown in Figure
2). Each gene is a small
segment of DNA that
contains a set of instructions
Figure 1. The DNA for an organism to create a
structure: Nucleotide single protein;
A genome a single
is the complete
building blocks are shown organism may have
set of genetic information
in nearly atomic detail. for an organism, stored in
DNA molecules called
chromosomes. It contains
all the information an
organism needs to function
Why are proteins important?
Factors such as reduced
Proteins perform all of the work penetrance and variable
in organisms. Some functions of expressivity contribute to
proteins include: Serving as these discrepancies.
catalysts for reactions Reduced penetrance
Performing
When a cell signaling
protein is created means that not all
Transporting molecules across individuals with a genetic
by its gene, it is said that
membranes Creating structures variant will exhibit the
the gene is "expressed,"
or used. Most gene associated condition,
expressions do not influenced by a mix of
produce results visible to genetic, environmental, and
the unaided eye. lifestyle factors. For
However, some genes, instance, familial cancer
such as those that code syndromes often show
for proteins responsible reduced penetrance,
for pigment, do have complicating risk predictions
visual expression. for relatives.

The expression of a gene

in an observable manner How is DNA used in
is called a phenotypic genetic engineering?
trait; one example is an
organism's hair color. In By definition, genetic
fact, everything you can engineering is the direct
see in an organism is a altering of an organism's
result of proteins or genome. This is achieved
protein actions. through manipulation of the
DNA. Doing this is possible
because DNA is like a
Genotype refers to an universal language; all DNA
individual's unique for all organisms is made up
sequence, specifically the of the same nucleotide
variants inheritance from
each parent for a
particular gene. In
contrast, phenotype is the
In practice, since DNA
contains the genes to build
certain proteins, by changing
the DNA sequence,
engineers are able to provide
a new gene for a
cell/organism to create a The new gene can now be
different protein. The new inserted into this opening in
instructions may supplement the plasmid and the DNA can
the old instructions such that be bonded back together
an extra trait is exhibited, or using another enzyme called
they may completely replace ligase. This process, creates a
the old instructions such that recombinant plasmid. In this
a trait is changed. case, the recombinant
plasmid is also referred to as
Genetic Engineering a bacterial artificial
Technique The process for chromosome (BAC).
genetic engineering begins
the same for any organism
being modified;

1. Identify an organism that

contains a desirable gene.

2. Extract the entire DNA

from the organism.

3. Remove this gene from

the rest of the DNA. One way
to do this is by using a Once the recombinant DNA
restriction enzyme. These has been built, it can be
enzymes search for specific passed to the organism to be
nucleotide sequences where modified. If modifying
they will "cut" the DNA by bacteria, this process is quite
breaking the bonds at this simple
Other.modifications to
location.
bacteria include making
4. Insert the new gene to an changes to the cellular
respiration process to alter
Applications and Economics
- The number of applications
for genetic engineering are
increasing as more and more is
learned about the genomes of
different organisms. A few
interesting or notable
application areas are described
below. How many of today's
crops are genetically modified?
As of 2010, in the U.S., 86% of
corn produced was genetically
modified. Bt-corn is a common
GMO that combines a gene
from the Bt bacteria with corn
DNA to produce a crop that is
insect- resistant.
The bacteria gene used
contains a recipe for a protein
that is toxic when consumed
by insects, but safe when
consumed by humans. A
number of other genes can be This in return could create G
combined with crops to trees that could disrupt u
produce desirable properties the ecosystem. For b
such as: example, they could u
•Herbicide-, drought-, freeze- overpopulate the area or m
or disease-resistance grow so large that they g
•Higher yield •Faster growth smother other plant life. G
•Improved nutrition •Longer This same scenario has o
shelf life The creation of unintended and b
genetically modified crops undesirable consequences m
when the pollen from h
GMO crops drifts into non- a
GMO fields. Humans: c
Should humans be p
genetically engineered? G
 Franken-
food GMOs

Campain against
GMOs