Genetic Engineering

Genetic Engineering

1.) Bacteria produce their own toxic proteins enable to protect themselves. There are dozens of strains of Bacillus thuringiensis that is toxic to the different larvae that pray on it. The vector used in introducing that the toxins in laboratories is the Ti plasmid vector. Ti stands for tumor inducing and is used by inserting a type of transposon, called T DNA, into the infected plant's chromosome. The copies of the transposon is contains some recognition sequences for particular restriction enzymes. This allows new DNA to be inserted into it. The DNA is no longer producing tumors because it has been altered. This type of vector is good to use because it then allows the cells to produce their own altered DNA that is protective against the larvae. Thus all the future plants should be resistant to their insect predators.

2.) There are several benefits to genetically engineering plants. One such benefit is the improved crop production and the improved quality of crops. This is likely to benefit both the farmers who are producing the crops and the consumer who are buying the crops. It would benefit the farmers because they would be able to maximize their crops and get the most out of each harvest. It would also benefit the consumers because they should be getting a better quality crop at a cheaper price. Improved crop production would allow for all the crops to be maximized because insects would not be able to get to them and ruin them. Also, the crops could be altered to grow best in which environment they are being grown in. The quality of products would benefit because genetically engineering plants would allow for the crops to exactly the type of product the producer is trying to produce. This could include altering the composition of the plant.

3.) There are also several negative effects that can come from genetically engineering plants. One such effect is the increased health risk that goes along with eating these plants. This risk is definitely set onto the people who will eat the crops because they should be concerned about the health risks involved. Since it is a new science there is concern that scientists do not clearly understand everything needed to be known about genetically engineering plants. Genetically engineering plants can cause mutations to occur in plants that could cause a higher level of toxins to be found in crops. These toxins could become very harmful to humans. Unforeseen allergens could also occur from genetically engineering plants. There could also be an ecology problem that could come up as well. This could occur because