Explain what is genetic engineering, Biology

Assignment Help:

Explain brifly what is Genetic Engineering ?

Genetic Engineering : Engineering techniques have been used in agriculture and horticulture for centuries. Certain plants or animals were chosen over others to be grown for prized traits, leading to continuation of the species. Examples are hunting dogs, cattle, and various species of grain.

Breeding with the goal of maintaining or enhancing prized traits is called inbreeding, and the resulting generations are called purebred. However, excessive inbreeding increases the likelihood that harmful recessive genes will be homozygous. For this reason, breeders often crossbreed related varieties of plants or animals. The phenomenon by which hybrids often grow larger and healthier than either parent is called hybrid vigor.

Biologists sometimes induce mutations in various organisms and choose mutants with desired traits from their progeny. X-rays are often used for this purpose, since they leave no toxic residue. Geneticists improve the size of fruits and flowers by induced polyploidy through the use of colchicine, a drug that breaks down cytoplasmic microtubules and prevents formation of cell walls. Mitosis occurs without cell division, so the cells become polyploid. Berries from artificially polyploid plants are much larger than normal berries although close to half of flowering plant species are naturally polyploid. While polyploid organisms must be normally be mated with others of the same ploidy, many plants avoid this problem by self-fertilizing, producing offspring of the same ploidy.

The term genetic engineering now generally refers to the manipulation of genes by sophisticated techniques of recombinant DNA technology.

 


Related Discussions:- Explain what is genetic engineering

What is the life cycle of a tapeworm, Q. What is the life cycle of a tapewo...

Q. What is the life cycle of a tapeworm? The Pregnant proglottids with taenia eggs are released together with human feces. If ingested by the intermediate hosts, bovineor swine

Explain entecavir, Explain Entecavir  Entecavir  (Baraclude) taken ora...

Explain Entecavir  Entecavir  (Baraclude) taken orally once a day as monotherapy appears to be superior to lamivudine for patients with chronic HBV infection, but susceptibili

Pseudocoelom - metazoa, Pseudocoelom - Metazoa The platyhelminths whic...

Pseudocoelom - Metazoa The platyhelminths which do not have a body cavity surrounding the gut, have a solid type of body constitution. The mesoderm completely fills the space

Disorder of parathyroid function, Disorder of Parathyroid Function: Th...

Disorder of Parathyroid Function: The disorders of parathyroid function may  either  lead  to increased production or decreased production of parathormone.  Hypoparathyroid

Explain continuous murmurs and their characterstic, Explain Continuous Murm...

Explain Continuous Murmurs and their characterstic in details? These murmurs are continuous throughout systole and diastole. It is due to continuous blood flow in the same dire

Analysis of amino acid sequence on particular peptide, Define Analysis of A...

Define Analysis of Amino Acid sequence on Particular Peptide? The analysis of the relative order or the sequence in which the ammo acids are arranged-along the length of the

Periphyton - aquatic ecosystem, Periphyton - Aquatic Ecosystem These a...

Periphyton - Aquatic Ecosystem These are organisms which remain attached or clinging to stems and leaves of rooted plants or substances emerging above the bottom mud. Usually

Protozoa, the function of contractil vacuole

the function of contractil vacuole

What are the possible genotypes for its parents, Roan (RW) is a color of ca...

Roan (RW) is a color of cattle in which both red and white hairs are present due to codominance. What are the phenotype and genotype ratios of offspring produced by: roan bull and

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd