Junk DNA

What are genetically modified organisms? Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering. Throughout the United States, the majority of the crops have been totally modified with genetic engineering. Lots of food we eat today is now genetically modified, and we do not really know if what we are eating is natural or non-natural. This has made a great impact in American agricultural world…

Bacteria often contain plasmids, plasmids are circular, double stranded DNA that is not part of the nuclear DNA. Plasmids usually contain genes that code for several traits. Genetic transformation relies on inserting a gene that codes for a new trait in to the plasmid. For this lab, genetic transformation is the insertion of a new DNA in to E.coli cells, the pGLO plasmid was genetically engineered to carry the green fluorescent protein and a gene that codes for a protein that gives the bacteria…

The certain mutations required for detection, signaling, and repair of DNA damage can actually lead to more DNA damage, the incorrect repair of damage, and cancer. If DNA repair pathways that are needed for the life and growth of a tumor can be found and delayed, then the use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy can and will be much more successful (Bolderson, Richard, Zhou…

The increase of knowledge regarding the topic altering genes has become rapid and have open and paved the hope of designing your own perfect baby. Even today, the use of reforming and adjusting the genes of an unborn child is being put in effect. “Techniques of genetic screening are already being used, whereby embryos can be selected by sex and checked for certain disease-bearing genes. This can lead to either the termination of a pregnancy, or if analyzed at a pre-implantation stage when using…

Primate Taxonomy Primate Taxonomy Introduction This first lecture is designed to introduce the primate order in terms of its classification and to familiarise you with the animals so that the rest of the course makes some sort of sense. I will cover a working definition of what makes a primate, give you a general classification scheme, describe the major features that identify the groups within the classification and discuss some of the controversial areas of the classification. I shall…

(October 11, 2013). James Watson Biography: Co-Discoverer of DNA's Double Helix. In LiveScience. Retrieved December 29, 2013, from http://www.livescience.com/40380-james-watson-biography.html. DNA Typing. (2007). How DNA Typing Is Used In Determining Paternity . In DNA Forensic. Retrieved December 29, 2013, from http://www.dnaforensic.org/index.html. What is Biotechnology?. (n.d.). In BIO. Retrieved December 29, 2013, from http://www.bio.org/node/517. Clean Air and Water, Green…

Modern society has been blessed with brilliant minds that have helped humans increase their life expectancy to the point where we are living well even at what is considered overpopulation. We were able to cure polio, the black plague, and other diseases that would’ve been considered a virtual death sentence a few centuries ago. Because of this, our bodies have almost no need to fight off diseases naturally. Now it isn’t being worried about at the moment because we still have tons of modern…

Edward Tatum establish that one gene creates one enzyme or protein, and shared the 1958 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Then in 1952 Martha Chase and Alfred Hershey used a common kitchen appliance to separate the protein coats of viruses from their DNA to show that DNA is the material that transfers inherited characteristics from one generation to the following. In 1990 they used a four year old girl Ashanti DiSilva with an ADA deficiency for gene therapy. This was conducted with William French…

Motor neurone disease or more commonly known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a genetic disorder that targets the motor neurones of the human nervous system. More specifically the disease targets the movement aspects of the human body by slowly degenerating the motor neurones located in the spinal cord. If the disorder is not treated efficiently the situation will worsen to a point where the respiration system will become affected making breathing an increasingly difficult task. Other aspects…

I have found through my AS Psychology lessons and from personal experience with family members, that mental illness is a topic that interests me immensely. In my lessons I learned how mental illness is treated and theories about how it is caused, such as the biological approach which suggests that mental illness is caused by changes to the brain or neurotransmitters. For example, there is evidence to suggest that depression is caused by the lack of serotonin in the body. My interest in mental…