Download Advances in Genetics

Advances in Genetics
Selective Breeding
• The process of selecting organisms with desired traits to be
parents of the next generation is called selective breeding
• The corn we use today is a great example!
• 2 techniques
• Inbreeding
• hybridization
Inbreeding
• Inbreeding involves crossing two individuals that have similar
characteristics
• Inbred organisms have alleles very similar to their parents
• This increases the chance of a genetic disorder showing in the
offspring
Hybridization
• Breeders cross 2 genetically different individuals
• Trying to get the best traits of both parents
Cloning
• Clones have exactly the same genes as the organism that
produces it
• Some organisms do this naturally
• Kings Holly
• African Violet
Genetic Engineering
• Transfer genes from one organism into the DNA of another
organism
• Produces medicines and improves food crops
• insulin
Other uses
• Human genes can be inserted into cows
• Cows produce protein coded in Human DNA through their
milk
• Can produce the blood clotting protein needed for hemophilia
Genetic Engineering in Crops
• Can produce crops that survive harsh weather
• Crops that protect against insects
• Crops that grow in poor soil conditions
Gene Therapy
• Correcting genetic disorders in humans
• Replace alleles that cause genetic disorders
• We are still working on this
Concerns
• Is it safe?
• Genetic engineering is fairly recent in science, there are
worries about long term affects to humans and the
environment
Learning about Human
Genetics
• Human Genome Project
• DNA Fingerprinting
Human Genome Project
• Genome is all the DNA in one cell of an organism
• Goal of the project is to identify the DNA sequence in every
gene of the human genome
• Human DNA has at least 30,000 genes
• The average gene is 3,000 bases
DNA Finger Printing
• Used to identify and show relations between people
• Except for identical twins, no 2 people have the same DNA
finger print