NAME _______________________________________________________________ PER ______________ DATE ___________________________
BIOENGINEERING THE BEST
Form 1
BACKGROUND
Discuss the following questions with a partner or your table. Then record your answers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzEr23XJwFY
1. Based on the video clip you just watched, what is the public’s understanding of GMOs?
2. Define Transgenic Organism/GMO:
3. Do you think having an understanding of biotechnology is important even if you do not have a career in
science? Explain.
4. Summarize the process of genetic engineering. Explain how genes from one organism are inserted in another.
PROCEDURE
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any living organism whose genetic material has been altered using
genetic engineering techniques. These organisms provide either an industrial, medical, or agricultural benefit. An
industrial benefit would be to increase production without increasing costs or wastes. Medical benefits are seen in
the use of gene therapy, transplants, supplements, or even disease treatment. Agriculture is the most widely
discussed in the news. Agricultural benefits include increasing quality, better breeding, disease resistance, or even
increasing nutrition among crops. You will create a genetically modified organism to benefit and improve a
hypothetical situation. The tables that contain possible host organisms and possible donor gene.
Pick one scenario to complete. Clearly highlight the scenario you will be using. Follow the steps and answer the
questions that follow. Please see the attached host organisms and donor genes.
SCENARIO ONE:
There is a drought plaguing most of the mid-west. Not only are crop yields declining but the livestock population is
at risk. Farmer Ted makes his living by selling the wool from his sheep to a major clothing company in New York.
He gets paid by the mass or weight of the wool he shears from the sheep. Due to the lack of rain the grass fields
that his sheep graze on are smaller than previous years. Farmer Ted’s sheep are not only smaller in size but also
seem to be less “wooly”.
SCENARIO TWO:
In spite of the efforts of the United Nations, we are on the brink of a third world war. In times of a war countries
often have to rely on rationing food, materials, and even energy to survive. You live in a small town whose primary
economy comes from making protective armor and parachutes for the military. The factories are at maximum
production. The skies are full of soot and the smoke prevents sunlight from reaching the crops. As a result, food
availability is being quickly depleted.
SCENARIO THREE:
A respiratory disease is quickly spreading across the nation and at risk of becoming a pandemic. The disease most
often results in pulmonary failure and ultimately death. The disease can be treated by taking antibiotics or even a
vaccine. The problem is not with the treatment but how quickly medical personnel can administer the treatment.
Infected individuals spread the pathogen before it can be treated and by the time symptoms show the patient is
late stage.
a) Highlight which scenario you will be using.
b) Summarize the challenges faced or the problems that need to be addressed in this scenario.
c) Choose a host organism that you will insert a foreign gene into (Table 1):
d) What are some possible problems with using this host organism?
e) Explain why you chose your host organism.
f) What gene are you going to insert into your host (Table 2)?
g) What organism does this gene come from (“Donor Organism”)?
h) Describe the function of this gene.
i) Describe what your organism will be able to do now that it has the new gene.
j) How do you expect your GMO to help alleviate the problem(s) at hand? How will it change the problem?
k) List possible changes to plants, animals, the environment, or economy that could result once the transgenic
organism is introduced into the environment.
l) Explain and describe how one change identified in letter “j” could have a negative impact. In other words,
what are the possible repercussions, unintended consequences, which could result from creating and using
this transgenic organism?
CONCLUSION
Read the passages below and Talk to the Test (T4). Answer the questions that follow the passage.
IS GREEN ILLUMINATION ON THE HORIZON?
By Colleen Salvatore
BIOLUMNINESCENT TREES MAY LIGHT THE WAY
We’ve all enjoyed evening strolls in the park with paths lit by street lights. Can you imagine a street or path
illuminated not by street lights but by trees? This far-fetched fantasy may someday become a reality with
genetically modified bioluminescent plants.
NATURE’S NIGHTLIGHT
Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde is combining his fascination with the luminescence of fireflies and
jellyfish and the principles of biomimicry in the hopes of developing trees that actually glow in the dark and
provide enough lighting to replace street lights. Roosegaarde explained, “When a jellyfish is deep, deep underwater
it creates its own light. It does not have a battery or a solar panel or an energy bill. It does it completely
autonomously.” His biomimicry quest led to a collaboration with Dr. Alexander Krichevsky, a biotech researcher
from State University of New York, and founder of BIOGLOW™, a St.
Louis-based biotechnology firm that developed the first light-producing plant. After several years of research,
Krischevsky achieved a bioluminescence breakthrough when he spliced DNA from luminous marine bacteria
within the chloroplast genome of a houseplant. The result was the Starlight Avatar™, the first autoluminescent
ornamental plant.
More research is needed to make these plants commercially available given their two-to three month lifespan and
intolerance to sunlight. The team will continue their work in the United States where it has received approval from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the genetic engineering research. The European Union has strict regulations
governing the use of genetically modified plants and this research work is prohibited.
GLOWING NATURE PAINT
In a related bioluminescence project, Studio Roosegaarde is working on Glowing Nature, a noninvasive
technique using ‘biological paint’ onto mature trees to create light-emitting foliage. The paint charges during the
day and glows at night for up to 8 hours. Trial application of the material is scheduled to begin by the end of 2014.
1) Based on the passage, what is “bioluminescence”?
2) In Dr. Krischevsky’s research what was the host and what was the gene?
3) What problem are the researches trying to solve?
4) What will this new transgenic organism be able to do?
THE MOCKINGJAY
Genetically modified organisms have crossed over into fiction. One GMO you might be most familiar with is the
fictional bird that from the book trilogy “The Hunger Games.” This bird is a mockingjay, a cross between a
mockingbird and a genetically engineered spy bird called a jabberjay. Jays, along with crows and ravens, belong to a
highly intelligent group of birds called the corvids. Jays are naturally thieves and spies, keeping track of where other
jays hide food to raid it later. Mockingbirds have a fantastic ability to mimic other birds’ songs.
The rulers modified an unspecified species of jay to make a new creature, an animal of the state called a jabberjay.
Jabberjays were intended to function as biological recording machines that no one would suspect. They would listen
to conversations and then return to their masters to replay them.
One argument against GMOs is wrapped in the great fear about genetic engineering, that modified organisms or
their genes will escape into the wild and wreak havoc. The mockingjay is just such an unintended consequence. The
jabberjays, all male, were left to die out when the public realized what they were doing. The jabberjays were not
expected to survive in the wild, but they bred with mockingbirds and produced a thriving hybrid that could mimic
human sounds and songs.
5) What lessons can we learn from this scenario about scientists’ responsibility in genetic engineering?
6) What conditions would be required for a genetically modified organism to hybridize with wild plants or
animals in the real world?
7) Should there be protocols (rules) for creating genetically modified organisms? Support your choice with
evidence from this lab or the readings.
8) A patent is a government license giving an individual the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or
selling an invention. Should any of these researchers be able to patent their transgenic organisms? Why or
why not?
9) Your friend is arguing that GMOs are “bad”. What would you say to them?