s͏i͏m͏p͏l͏e ͏i͏n͏t͏roduction of genetic engineering
Genetic engineering mean changing one base pair (A-T or C-G), deleting a whole region of DNA, or introducing an additional copy of a gene.
It may also mean extracting DNA from another organism’s genome and combining it with the DNA of that individual.
Genetic engineering can be applied to any organism, from a virus, to a sheep.
To help explain the process of genetic engineering we have taken the example of insulin, a protein? that helps regulate the sugar levels in our blood.
People with diabetes therefore have to inject insulin to control their blood sugar levels.
Genetic engineering has been used to produce a type of insulin, very similar to our own, from yeast and bacteria? like E. coli.
The genetic engineering process
A small piece of circular DNA called a plasmid? is extracted from the bacteria or yeast cell.
The gene for human insulin is inserted into the gap in the plasmid. This plasmid is now genetically modified.
The genetically modified plasmid is introduced into a new bacteria or yeast cell.
To create large amounts of the cells, the genetically modified bacteria or yeast are grown in large fermentation vessels that contain all the nutrients they need. The more the cells divide, the more insulin is produced.
In plants, genetic engineering has been applied to improve the resilience, nutritional value and growth rate of crops such as potatoes, tomatoes and rice.
Genetic engineering has a number of useful applications, including scientific research, agriculture and technology.