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Selecting Desirable Traits Section 4.2 p. 66 Learning Outcomes • I can describe examples of genetic technology • I can identify examples of natural selection, and artificial selection • I can describe methods being used with biotechnology to better environmental issues such as agriculture, and forestry Artificial Selection • Remember that Natural Selection is when the environment “selects” which individuals will survive long enough to reproduce • Artificial Selection • Is the process of selecting and breeding individuals with desirable traits to produce offspring that have these desired traits • Animal breeders have practiced this method for a long time, such as horses, cows, dogs, and many other types of animals (this is where the idea of Purebred comes into play) • Agriculture is another example of where humans have practiced Artificial Selection as long a 10,000 years ago. The plants no longer resemble the wild species from which they came from • Teosinte produced much smaller cobs and far fewer seeds than modern day corn Bio Technology • Biotechnology is the use of living things to make agricultural, industrial, or medicinal products • Natural means of artificial selection tends to occur quite slowly, so scientist and breeders have developed to techniques to speed these process’s up • These technologies can range from “low tech” to extremely “high tech” Cloning of plants • Clone: a genetically identical copy of an entire organism or of its cells or genes • We learned of an asexual technique called cuttings where you take a clipping of a plant, cut it off, plant it, and it will grow to develop an identical plant (clone) • Problem is that ideal plants only have so many leaves that can be cut off • So scientists have created a quicker way to create clones • Cells are removed from the plant in question • Cells are placed in a petri dish where they are developed into seedlings • The seedlings are then transplanted into the soil Cloning of Animals • Animals have been cloned for a variety of reasons • To help with research programs (alter the DNA) • To help create the necessary amount of livestock needed to produce meat and animal product demands • This is a highly controversial subject, and the cloning that has been done has proved to have many problems • Unsuccessful preganecies • Birth Defects • Death among the clones Artificial Reproductive Technology • This refers to any artificial method of joining a male and female gamete • Two Main Types • Artificial insemination; Sperm is harvested from a male, and inserted into multiple females • Advantage with animals is that it can help guarantee the process occurs correctly, and that the male animals sperm can be utilized in many places all at one time • In vitro fertilization; sperm is harvested from the male, the eggs are removed from the female. In a laboratory petri dish the eggs are fertilized with the male sperm producing embryo's • Advantages many embryo's can be fertilized at one time, and implanted into a number of females • The result will be all the offspring being brother and sister Genetic Engineering • Refers to any technology that directly alters the DNA of an organism • This science is rapidly developing to try and control the characteristics of an organism to better mankind • This had led to many different types of GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organism) • Inserting the gene for insulin production into bacteria which reproduce very quickly to produce enough insulin for Diabetics • Trying to cut down on pesticides used by farmers by inserting genes from insect resistive strains of plants into those that are normally affected • This has a very negative affect on the overall variation of the plants and animals that have been developed Summary