Historical Background Of Genetic Engineering

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Recommended: Importance of enzymes in living organisms

DNA is the material that gives us our personality, our looks, and our thought processes, good or bad, DNA controls all of this. DNA full name is Deoxyribonucleic Acid. It is called that because it is missing one oxygen atom, and it is located in the nucleus. It is also in the form of an acid.

DNA is made up of four subunits: Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine. During the production of RNA, the messenger of DNA, Uracil is used instead of thymine. A small segment of this DNA is called a gene. A gene is also located in what is called a chromosome. A chromosome is a coiled piece of DNA in the shape of and X. It is the key in cell reproduction/ mitosis. Genes are the parts that are ‘exploited’ by scientists to control an organism’s traits. By reading the sequence of DNA in three base sets, the ribosome can determine what proteins to make. These proteins control the development of the cell and the look of the cell.

The differences between genetic engineering and traditional breeding are. You get only what you want from the DNA that you take from the donor. It is also the movement of select genes, so it is very precise. Lastly, since you only take a small piece of DNA, you only have a few possibilities.

However, with traditional breeding, you will almost always get a few undesirable traits. The breeding is also less precise about the ‘fine lines, character traits’. There are an unlimited amount of combinations that can be created.

Historical Background Of Genetic Engineering

Genetic Engineering has been going on unknowingly for thousands of years. It exists so far back, that it is even indirectly described in the Bible. The men who pioneered the study of genetic engineering were Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen. They in...

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...forming Plants - Basic Genetic Engineering Techniques. Retrieved February 3, 2014, from http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BA/Transforming_Plants.php

Team: TU Munich (n.d.). Team: TU Munich Human Practice Survey. Retrieved January 20, 2014, from http://2012.igem.org/Team:TU_Munich/Human_Practice/Survey

UCUSA (n.d.). What Is Genetic Engineering? | Union of Concerned Scientists. Retrieved January 20, 2014, from http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/genetic-engineering/what-is-genetic-engineering.html

University of Nebraska (Lincoln) (n.d.). UNL's AgBiosafety for Educators. Retrieved January 19, 2014, from http://agbiosafety.unl.edu/basic_genetics.shtml

Wikipedia (n.d.). History of Genetic Engineering - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 5, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_genetic_engineering

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