Noncoding DNA

wonder if DNA is the most effect way to catching a criminal (Steen). Without the use of it there would not be the freeing or those accused of a crime and proving of their innocence. In today’s society the use of deoxyribonucleic acid, known as DNA; is the basic building block of life and has aided in identifying criminals and solving major crimes (Houck and Siegel). But on the other hand DNA has also proven many individuals to be innocent of a crime. The information that inside of one’s DNA set…

Genetic Engineering (GE) is the process of altering the genetic makeup of an organism by extracting certain genes from the donor organism and inserting them into the genome of the recipient organism (“What”). Genes are small segments consisting of DNA…

Most of us never think about the food we eat. How is it made? Where does it come from? What exactly is in it? Is it safe to eat? Sometimes the best answer to those questions is no answer at all. Some of us may not even care, some will. It’s all about the perspective of the person. No answer is wrong. In the book The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan writes about a potato called the NewLeaf. The NewLeaf potato isn’t like any other kind of ordinary potato. It’s a genetically engineered potato that…

sections of DNA from the genome and adding in desired gene sequences in its place. CRISPR/Cas9 was originally found in bacteria as five repeating, duplicate sequences next to each other, divided by dissimilar, short sequences of virus DNA. The Cas9 part is a linked nuclease that is aided by a guide RNA, used to cut DNA. The CRISPR/Cas9 system is an immune response in bacteria that works when a virus, releases its genetic code into the bacteria. The virus DNA is stored in the bacteria DNA, so…

Bioinformatics is a study that focuses on the collection and analysis of biological information using information from sequences of DNA, RNA, and proteins. This field focuses on how to make predictions about biological systems and analyze data to provide more insight on how living organisms function and how its genome relates to its biology. Following the determination of the insulin sequence, Frederick Sanger realized that manually comparing several sequences was impractical (Moody 2004)).…

7. Identify one finding from the Human Genome Project and discuss how it might impact our understanding of human behavior. One finding from the Human Genome Project includes the identification of “approximately 200 disease-related genes” (Ginsberg, Nackerud & Larrison, 2004, p. 118). This finding impacts our understanding of human behavior as it gives a better biological understanding of these diseases and it helps social workers to be better advocates for those who have these diseases. Our…

Genetically Modified Organisms, more commonly known as GMOs, are organisms whose DNA has been scientifically modified by moving genes between different organisms that don’t naturally breed (Hirsch, 2014, para. 1). In other terms, GMOs have a gene in their DNA that researchers have added into it in order to improve the overall quality of that crop. Even though researchers have added strands of DNA to an organism, those organisms still look like the original organism (Ostrander, 2014). According…

Even a food as simple as an apple can be manipulated into something new. Walk down the produce aisle of any supermarket, and there are probably a dozen different varieties of apples, if not more. One such variety is the SweeTango apple. SweeTango apples are a hybrid fruit, not resulting from naturally occurring cross-pollination, but created in a laboratory at the University of Minnesota (Seabrook). The parent plants of a SweeTango are the Honeycrisp and Zestar apples, both of which are…

enhance or remove a particular trait and allow the organism to perform new functions” (Environment.gov.au, 2014). The more modern biotechnology includes the discovery of genes, understanding of how genes function and interact, discovering of natural DNA markers to select for more efficient genetic modification. We can modify genes because in every…

never even get the chance to a fair trial. “There have been 318 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States; the first DNA exoneration took place in 1989, exonerations have been won in 38 states;…