C) hybridization.

When you create a hybrid, you are combining two different types of organisms in order to get a new tye that hopefully will inherit the best qualities of each parent. For example, many people who are allergic to dogs now get a dog such as a cockapoo or labradoodle. These dogs are a hybrid of cocker spaniels or labrador retrievers with hypoallergenic poodles with the hopes that they will inherit the hypoallergenic qualities of their poodle parent and the companionship qualities of the other parent.

C

A) inbreeding.

Inbreeding involves breeding two organisms with similar traits in order to get offspring with that trait. For example, if you owned a very fast horse that won many races you might want to breed it to another very fast racehorse

A

C) inbreeding.

Inbreeding involves breeding two organisms with similar traits in order to get offspring with that trait. All dogs of certain breeds, such as golden retrievers, have very similar traits. These animals are inbred with each other continuously and not hybridized with other dogs with different traits in order to maintain the breed with the same traits and qualities of the breed standard.

C

A) genetic engineering.

Genetic engineering involves using techniques that allow foreign DNA to be inserted into an organism’s genome or allows the organism’s own DNA to be somehow altered to serve a purpose, such as producing new types of crops or conducting research on the role certain genes play in development.

A

A) restriction enzymes.

Restriction enzymes are proteins that cut apart DNA strands at specific points marked by certain sequences of nucleotides. There are many different restriction enzymes and each cuts DNA at a different nucleotide sequence.

A

B) recombinant DNA.

When DNA from one organism is inserted into another organism through artificial means, the result is a recombinant organism. In this case, the plasmid is a ring of bacterial DNA that has had foreign DNA artificially fused with it, so the plasmid becomes recombinant DNA.

B

C) becomes part of the transformed cell’s genome.

Cell transformation is only successful if the cell has incorporated the new DNA into its genome so that it will be affected by the changes associated with the new DNA. If the recombinant DNA does not become a part of the cell’s genome, then the cell will not be affected by the recombinant DNA and therefore will show no changes, signaling that the transformation was unsuccessful.

C

C) plasmids.

Small rings of DNA outside of the main chromosome are often found in bacteria. These are known as plasmids and are a commonly used route for infusing recombinant DNA into a bacterial cell.

C

A) transgenic.

Transgenic organisms contain genetic material from more than one organism. Trans= transferred, genic= genes: they have had genes transferred from another organism into themselves.

A

If a cell is created from another cell that is genetically identical to it, then that cell is considered to be a **clone**. Clones may compose an entire population of genetically identical cells.

The production of a clone generally involves the fusion of a donor cell with another cell that had its nucleus removed. The resulting cell would thus be genetically identical to the original.

A

Hybridization involves the crossing of two dissimilar species to produce an offspring that manifests the best traits of the parents. On the other hand, inbreeding is the process of crossing two similar species to produce an offspring that contains similar characteristics of the parents. This is done to ensure that the best characteristic of that organism is preserved throughout many generations.

Hybridization and inbreeding fall under the category of selective breeding because both processes involve taking advantage of the organism’s best trait in order to pass it on to the next generation.

Genetic engineers and breeders employ the use of inducing mutations to organisms to increase the genetic variation among organisms. The result of this process often leads to organisms with characteristics that are not common in the original population.

Polyploidy is a condition that occurs when an organism has extra sets of chromosomes. This is only useful in most plants since animals are unable to tolerate this condition. In plants that have extra chromosomes, they are usually larger and stronger compared to the original plant. Because of polyploidy, crops are being widely reproduced to increase the crop varieties in the market and the income of farmers.

The characteristics and functions of an organism is defined by its genetic code, particularly by its DNA. Similarly, the features of a computer game is defined by its programming code.

Genetic engineering generally involves the alteration of the genetic code in order to modify the characteristics of an organism. This is quite similar to reprogramming a computer game.

Reprogramming a computer game would involve altering the programming code in order to change the features of the game. Hence, it is similar to the process of genetic engineering.

Large DNA molecules can be cut up into smaller fragments using enzymes known as **restriction nucleases**. These enzymes cut DNA into fragments at specific nucleotide sequences.

Restriction nucleases and other relevant enzymes are often used by researchers in order to insert foreign genetic material into the DNA of an organism. This results in recombinant DNA.

Separating the DNA involves gel electrophoresis. In electrophoresis, DNA, RNA, and proteins are separated according to their sizes. In this way, the scientists can study and locate the sequence of DNA and RNA, and compare the gene composition of different organisms.

A recombinant DNA is formed when a genetic material of an organism is integrated artificially into the DNA strand of another organism.

During a polymerase chain reaction, smaller segments of DNA are being copied. The first stage of this process occurs when the DNA is heated to produce two single strands that are separated. Once cooled, the primers bind to one of the strands and the process of replicating starts with the help of the DNA polymerase. New copies are usually placed in between the primers.

Transformation is the uptake of foreign (exogenous) DNA by a cell and the subsequent expression of that foreign DNA by the cell; transformation genetically alters the cell involved. Plant cells and bacteria cells have been altered via transformation.

**Genetic markers** are genes that are inserted into recombinant DNA that allows scientists to distinguish cells that have taken up the recombinant DNA (i.e. plasmid) from those that did not.

Antibiotic resistance genes are often used as genetic markers. This allows scientists to identify cells that have taken up the recombinant DNA by exposing them to the selected antibiotic.

The introduction of luciferase, which is a light-emitting enzyme found in animals such as fireflies, to plants indicates how the DNA of an animal can be passed successfully to another organism to show a specific trait. For an instance, the luciferase gene that was from the firefly was induced to a plant. As a result, the transformation allowed the plant to glow in the dark. This concludes both plants and animals can share the same gene expression.

Transgenic organisms are organisms that contain foreign genetic material that was introduced from an unrelated organism. Several transgenic organisms have useful applications.

For instance, transgenic bacteria can be modified to produce many valuable substances. Some examples include medically-important substances such as the human insulin hormone.

Dolly, a sheep, was the first mammal that was ever cloned from an adult cell of a preexisting mammal. To create Dolly, scientists removed an egg cell from a living adult sheep, removed the nucleus from the egg cell, and then fused the egg cell with a cell from another adult sheep. This process caused the fused cells to begin dividing, creating an embryo that was then placed in a female sheep’s womb, where it developed into Dolly.

**Hybrid plants** are produced using the natural process of DNA recombination that occurs during sexual reproduction. It involves the crossing of dissimilar individuals in order to bring out the best characteristics from each individual in their offspring.

On the other hand, **transgenic plants** are not produced by the crossing of organisms. Instead, they are produced from the introduction of foreign genetic material into their DNA. This would directly alter their characteristics as selected by the researcher.

Since bacteria are known to reproduce in a short period of time, they are turned into transgenic microorganisms in order to produce human proteins. The harmless strain of bacteria that is infused by the genes found in human proteins such as insulin are being cultured in great abundance in order to increase the number of insulin produced. This is considered as a more efficient way to treat people with diabetes.

Bone cells, which are considered somatic cells, are not usually inherited because they are not a reproductive cell. Unlike reproductive cells, somatic cells will never be able to transfer the mutations they had since they do not undergo sexual reproduction.

They would perform hybridization on the thornless pink rose bush with the thorny purple rose bush, until a thornless purple rose bush is bred. Then, hybridization would be performed once again on the thornless purple rose bush and the thorny scented pink rose bush, until a thornless scented purple rose bush is formed. Once the new bush is formed, it will be inbred to maintain the trait.

A single codon consists of three nucleotides that encode an amino acid. Since the gene consists of ten codons, then the gene should consist of a long sequence of 30 nucleotides.

To determine the sequence of nucleotides in the gene, we can look for overlapping sections on the given fragments. These overlaps will contain similar sequences between fragments.

TAC GCT TTT CGC AAA GAC CTG CCA GTG ATT

The advantages and disadvantages of breeding and genetic engineering are almost related to each other. These processes are beneficial at a certain point but if it becomes unregulated, it may bring harmful effects to the organisms, as well as in the society. In addition, altering the natural process of life has its consequences.

Here is the list of the advantages and disadvantages of breeding and genetic engineering.

A. Genetic Engineering

Advantages:
1. It allows the structure of genes to be altered in order to produce organisms with desirable traits.
2. Genetic modification can increase the growth rate of organisms and prolong their lifespan.
3. New products can be created in genetic engineering.

Disadvantages
1. There is an unexpected negative reaction to organisms.
2. Nutrition in food can be decreased.
3. Ethical values are not considered.

B. Breeding

Advantages:
1. Breeding produces organisms with the most desirable traits.
2. An increased supply can increase profitability.
3. It can eliminate the risk of diseases because the offspring came from healthy parents.

Disadvantages
1. There is a decreasing rate of genetic variation among species.
2. Certain diseases caused by recessive alleles can be passed to the next generation.
3. There is no control over the occurrence of genetic mutation.

Since DNA is made by the same four nucleotides and translated by the same genetic code in both plant and animal cells, they can share the same gene expression and undergo cell transformation. This explains why a gene found in the animals can be passed successfully to a plant to show a specific trait. For an instance, the luciferase gene, which is a light-emitting enzyme found in a firefly, was induced to a plant cell and it allowed the plant to glow in the dark.

Since viruses have DNA on them, they are able to infect cells by getting in the chromosomes and replicate the infected cells. Because of genetic engineering, scientists can track the path of infection using the DNA sequence. Knowing the genetic makeup of viruses can help scientists produce a vaccine to help prevent a virus from entering the body and improve a person’s immunity to diseases. In this way, the risk of getting infected when receiving blood transfusion can be eliminated.

Here are some ways in which genetically engineered organisms are useful in the future:

a. Biodiversity: Genetically engineered organisms can help resolve the problem of plant and animal biodiversity. Genetic engineering can help increase the gene variation among plant and animal species.

b. Health: Genetically modified organisms can increase the chances of finding the cure for incurable diseases such as AIDS and cancer.

c. Wildlife: Genetic engineering can clone animal species that are low in numbers and close to extinction. It can help increase the population of endangered species.

d. Food and water: Genetically modified organisms can help increase the production of crops. There are also genetically modified plants which require a little amount of water in order to grow. In this way, they can help conserve the water supply.

Considering the notion which says that eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotes, the cells of living organisms such as bacteria and humans contain a genetic material or DNA that is composed of the same nucleotide bases and the same genetic code. This means that they can share the same gene expression and undergo cell transformation.

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Hypothetically, because the genetic code is universal, it may one day be possible to create an animal with a frog’s body and a bat’s wings. However, in reality, this would be very difficult (if not impossible), because there are so many genes needed to code for a single body structure. Also, scientists would need reasons to do their experiments, and there doesn’t appear to be a good reason to do this. So this is not really a reasonable statement.