Biotechnology
What is cloning?

Have you ever heard of cloning before? If so
what have you heard about it?

https://youtu.be/tELZEPcgKkE
Cloning

In 1996 the first cloned mammal Dolly the
sheep was born in Scotland. See p 427 for a
good image of the process.
◦ It took 277 attempts to finally create Dolly.
◦ She was cloned from a somatic cell (body cell)
from a donor’s udder/mammary cell.
Cloning

It actually involved 4 sheep to create the
clone Dolly:
1. The donor sheep that provided the somatic
cell,
2. the sheep that gave an egg minus the nucleus.
3. The incubator sheep that allowed the cell to
grow into a ball of cells by mitosis,
4. and the surrogate sheep that gave birth to
Dolly five months later.
Cloning
 Dolly
was put to sleep at age six
due to lung / respiratory problems.
Sheep usually live to age twelve.
◦ She also had arthritis - stiffening of
the joints usually seen in older
animals.
Cloning

Since Dolly, we’ve cloned cows, mice, dogs,
cats, pigs, and horses. To date, no humans
have been cloned. However, some groups
have falsely claimed to have cloned a human,
yet provide no evidence. Obviously, the
ethics behind cloning humans is a
controversial topic.
FYI: Types of cloning
There are three different types of artificial
cloning: gene cloning, reproductive cloning
and therapeutic cloning.
 Gene cloning produces copies of genes or
segments of DNA. Reproductive cloning
produces copies of whole animals.
Therapeutic cloning produces embryonic
stem cells for experiments aimed at creating
tissues to replace injured or diseased tissues.

FYI: Types of cloning

Gene cloning, also known as DNA cloning, is
a very different process from reproductive
and therapeutic cloning. Reproductive and
therapeutic cloning share many of the same
techniques, but are done for different
purposes.
Great Cloning Website
http://www.genome.gov/25020028#al-15
Gel Electrophoresis (online lab)
DNA is cut up with the use of restriction
enzymes.
 How can that DNA be separated?

◦ By gel electrophoresis.
Steps to gel electrophoresis




Cut up the DNA with restriction enzymes.
DNA is clear in color, so stain it.
DNA is negatively charged. Put the
negatively charged DNA fragments of
varying lengths into one well in the gel at the
negative end.
Turn on the electricity and the negatively
charged fragments will migrate towards the
positive end. They separate out by length.
The shortest / lightest fragments go farthest
and the longest/ heaviest fragments stay
closest to the wells.
Gel Electrophoresis
The resulting series of bands in the gel is
called a DNA Fingerprint.
 Where as the process to creating the
DNA fingerprint is called gel
electrophoresis.

Gel Electrophoresis

If DNA is inserted at
the top of the gel,
and DNA is negative,
what electric charge
is at the top of the
gel?
◦ Negative

What charge is at
the bottom?
◦ Positive
Gel Electrophoresis

Which fragments are
the longest? (closer
to well or farthest
from the well?)
◦ Closest to the well

Which fragments are
the shortest?
◦ Farthest from the well.
Gel Electrophoresis
The first well represents the crime scene data.
 The other wells have the suspects data
 Whoever shares that most DNA sections with
the crime scene DNA is the main suspect.

Whodunnit?

DNA fingerprinting if
often used to
determine paternity
cases and to
compare DNA
samples from crime
scenes.

Allows you to find
the top suspect but
realize that more in
depth findings will be
needed to make an
official arrest.

Q: Jake and Emma's four
children were grown and
had families of their own.
Jake was murdered, and the
police suspected his oldest
child (#1) as the culprit,
who had unexplained
scratches on his arms and
face. DNA was extracted
from under the victim's
fingernails, and that was
compared with those of
the other members of the
family. Be a real Sherlock
Holmes: was the culprit
really the oldest child?
Polymerase Chain Reaction
If only a small amount of DNA is left at a
crime scene, it can be copied by a process
called polymerase chain reaction.
 This is used to make millions of copies of
the original piece in just hours.

◦ Note: if you go back to the virtual labs section of
the biotech web lesson where you did the gel
electrophoresis and DNA extraction there is a
virtual lab for PCR.
Stem Cells (online lab)
Differentiation: where cells change into
specific types of cells after receiving a
signal.
 Embryonic stem cells are able to become
any type of cell in the body. The term for
this is totipotent.

Stem Cells (online lab)

Stem cells are taken from a developing
embryo very early in development. They
then can be triggered to become one of
these five types of cells:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
SKIN
BONE
NERVE
SKELETAL MUSCLE
RED BLOOD
Stem Cells (online lab)

Adults have stem cells also, yet they
cannot be triggered to produce all the cell
types just listed, in other words they are
multipotent . Adult stems cells are found
in bone, skin, muscles, blood, nerves, and
umbilical cord.
GMO/GMF

Have you ever heard of GMO’s before? If
so what have you heard about them?
Where have you seen labels for them
before?
Videos
Jimmy Kimmel and GMOs
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/0
9/jimmy-kimmel-gmo_n_5958264.html
 Neil DeGrasse Tyson on GMO's
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=neil
+degrasse+tyson+gmos&FORM=VIRE1#v
iew=detail&mid=CB60EB7EAEF4A98B5A
87CB60EB7EAEF4A98B5A87
 Bill Nye on GMO
https://youtu.be/GKm2Ch3-Myg

Genetically Modified Food or
Genetically Modified Organisms

GMO and GMF or genetically modified
organisms / foods are when plants and
animals genes are scientifically altered.
◦ Often DNA from one organism is combined
with DNA from an unrelated organism.
◦ For instance, adding DNA from animals to
fruits or vegetables.
Examples of commonly GMO
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Sugar Beets (herbicide resistant)
Potatoes (disease resistant)
Corn (insect resistant)
Tomatoes (designed to last up to 45 days)
Squash (viral resistant)
Golden Rice (increased iron content and
increased nutrition)
Soybeans
Oils (to remove bitterness)
Animal Feed
Salmon (decrease maturity time and increase
size of the salmon)
original corn versus modern corn
Tomatoes
Examples of GMF
Go to this website to read about the top
10 genetically modified food products
http://dsc.discovery.com/tvshows/curiosity/topics/10-geneticallymodified-food-products.htm
 Are these genetically modified foods safe
to eat? Read the article below:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/geneti
c/food-biotechnology-safe.htm

Genetically Modified Organisms

New organisms can be
created using DNA
from another source.
◦ Recombinant DNA is
made by recombining cut
DNA from different
sources.
◦ DNA is cut using
restriction enzymes
EcoR1.
Genetically Modified Organisms
◦ The cut is made in a
ZIG ZAG fashion.
◦ The recombinant
DNA can be inserted
into an organism by
way of a vector.
Vectors act as
vehicles like a bacteria
or a gene gun.
Genetically Modified Organism
The end result is a
transgenic organism.
 This is done through
various genetic
engineering methods.
 Example:
GloFish have been
genetically modified
with a fluorescent
protein.

http://www.glofish.com/
A journalist discusses
how biotechnology is
altering animals in
ways both trivial and
profound. It may sound
like science fiction, but
our ability to
manipulate DNA is
very real, and carries
both perils and
extraordinary
potential.
NPR Interview with the author:
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/11/173514863/
frankensteins-cat-bioengineering-theanimals-of-the-future

Genetically Modified Food or
Organisms
How does this work?
 Find the DNA the scientist
wants
 Cut the DNA or gene out.
 Insert the desired piece of
DNA into the DNA of an
organism that likes to infect
(i.e. bacterial DNA or a
virus)
 Let the vector infect the host
and transfer the recombinant
DNA into the host.

Example: A tobacco
plant contains a firefly
gene that causes the
plant to glow.
Uses of genetic engineering:

MEDICINE/MEDICINAL:
◦ To help people with disorders like diabetes
that cannot make enough insulin. Insulin helps
transport sugar/glucose molecules into your
cells. OR to help create growth hormone for
people who are shorter/have dwarfism or
those who do not have enough GH.
Uses of genetic engineering:

AGRICULTURAL
◦ create better food, plants and animals

INDUSTRIAL:
◦ Transgenic bacteria that are genetically
engineered to break down oil, for example, oil
spills.
Human Genome Project (HGP)
The Human Genome Project was an
international effort to map the location of
all the genes in humans / all 6 billion letters
(A, T, C, G).
 This knowledge can then be used to
eventually find and cure disease - gene
therapy.

Human Genome Project (HGP)
It began in 1990 and was supposed to take
15 years. However, the first draft was
completed on April 14, 2003.
 Approximately 20-25,000 genes were found.
This is surprising because scientists
expected to find 100,000 genes. Recall,
genes code for the making of proteins.

Human Genome Project (HGP)


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Along with the HGP, scientists also mapped the
genomes of other organisms such as Drosophila,
E. coli, mice, round worms, yeast, mustard
plants, etc.
Interestingly, rice has twice the number of
genes than humans. So obviously, gene number
doesn’t equal complexity.
The HGP showed us that humans are all 99.9%
the same. And humans are only ~ two%
different from chimpanzees.
http://www.genome.gov/