Biotechnology Practices

A farmer reads this information: - A bacteria has a gene that allows it to create pesticide. - The gene has been transferred into a corn plant, allowing the corn plant to produce the pesticide. Why might a farmer choose to plant genetically engineered corn?

• to spread mutations from the corn to other crops
• to reduce chemical use during the growing season
• to allow the fields to be used for more than one season
• to decrease the amount of land needed to grow the corn crop

Which of the following is a step in producing herbicide resistant cotton?

• Exposing cotton to herbicides until it develops herbicide resistance.
• Intentionally causing a mutation in the cotton's DNA in a random gene
• Adding the gene for herbicide resistance to cotton's DNA
• Adding cotton's DNA into a bacteria

A farmer reads this information: - Yeast has a gene that slows aging and decreases decay from bacteria - That gene has been transferred to some tomatoes, allowing the tomatoes to have longer shelf life Why might farmers be encouraged to plant this variety of tomatoes?

• Consumers want to eat more genetically modified foods
• Provides a larger supply of tomatoes, due to fewer tomatoes rotting
• Consumers believe the yeast gene in the tomatoes will also cause them to age slower
• Having tomatoes with longer shelf life would encourage more people to eat tomatoes

Scientists used to give diabetics insulin from pigs and cows. However, many people were allergic and rejected the insulin from other organisms. Now insulin is produced by bacteria, by inserting the human gene for insulin into the bacteria's DNA. What is another reason insulin produced by bacteria is a better alternative for diabetics than taking pig or cow insulin?

• Bacteria divide quickly, producing large amounts of insulin faster and cheaper than harvesting insulin from other animals
• Bacteria are more complex than pigs and cows, so the insulin they produce is better
• Bacteria reproduce sexually, so the insulin they produce changes frequently.
• Bacteria produce many lipids that are helpful to humans, that are included in the insulin they collect from them

Which step is involved, when a human undergoes gene therapy to treat cystic fibrosis?

• A DNA from a bacteria is used to replace a faulty (bad) gene in a human cell

• A chain of bacterial amino acids are inserted into human DNA
• The faulty (bad) gene is identified in the human's cells.

• A human gene is inserted into a bacteria's DNA.

How can individuals that receive gene therapy for sickle cell anemia in some of their cells, eventually be cured of the disease, in the majority of their cells?

• The cells that received gene therapy will cause surrounding cells that did not receive gene therapy to be healed.
• The cells that received gene therapy will reproduce by mitosis, passing on the correctly functioning gene to its offspring.
• The cells that received gene therapy will cause surrounding cells that did not receive gene therapy to die, leaving only correctly functioning cells.
• The cells that receive gene therapy will cause surrounding cells to mutate and start functioning correctly.

How will the planting of genetically modified disease-resistant varieties of papayas affect natural selection?

• Disease-resistant papayas will increase the rate of natural selection, because they will survive better than non-disease resistant papayas.
• Disease-resistant papayas will decrease the rate of natural selection, because they will not survive any better than papayas that have not been genetically modified.
• Disease-resistant papayas will increase the rate of natural selection, because they will not survive as well as non-disease resistant papayas.
• Disease-resistant papayas will decrease the rate of natural selection, because they will survive better than non-disease resistant papayas.

A deficiency of Vitamin A can cause vision problems, including night blindness. The Alliance of Bioversity International has an initiative to distribute bananas with a pro-vitamin A trait to countries in eastern Africa. What is the purpose of producing bananas with this trait for increased Vitamin A content, specifically for countries in this area?

• It allows the countries of eastern Africa to sell the Vitamin A bananas to other countries, benefiting their economy.
• A higher percentage of citizens in eastern African are deficient in Vitamin A.
• Allows doctors to see if people also need more potassium when they lack Vitamin A.
• Bananas are the most popular fruit, so it increases their availability to citizens living in eastern Africa.

Some dairy farmers treat their cows with recombinant bovine growth hormone. Some of the effects are in the table below. According to this information, which of the following is an ethical issue that is related to the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone.

• The use of growth hormone can cause disease in cows.
• The use of growth hormone in cows can increase milk production.
• Eating products from cows given growth hormone can affect human health.
• Contact with growth hormone affects the health of farmers that handle the cows.

Scientists have started approaching farmers about cloning their best livestock, in order to better predict their production of products from livestock, such as meat, milk, etc. Which of the following is an ethical concern for cloning livestock?

• Cloning livestock increases production of animal products
• Cloning livestock allows farmers to choose the healthiest or high-producing livestock to clone, without inbreeding and increasing chances of passing on defective genes.
• Cloning livestock is not very successful and cloned livestock have lower life expectancy
• Cloning livestock allows farmers to clone livestock that is resistant to certain diseases, making herd healthier