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Genetic Engineering: A Revolution in Molecular Biology


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In chapter 9 we looked at the ways in which microorganisms duplicate, exchange, and use their genetic information. In scientific parlance this is called basic science, because no product or application is directly derived from it. Human beings being what they are, however, it is never long before basic knowledge is used to derive applied science, or useful products and applications that owe their invention to the basic research that preceded them. As an example, basic science into the workings of the electron has led to the development of television, computers, and cell phones. None of these staples of modern life were envisioned when early physicists were deciphering the nature of subatomic particles, but without the knowledge of how electrons worked, our ability to harness them for our own uses would never have materialized.

The same scenario can be seen with regard to genetics. The knowledge of how DNA was manipulated within the cell to carry out the goals of a microbe allowed scientists to utilize these processes to accomplish goals more to the liking of human beings. Contrary to being a new idea, the methods of genetic manipulation we will review are simply more efficient ways of accomplishing goals that humans have had for thousands of years.

Examples of human goals that have been more efficiently attained through the use of modern genetic technologies can be seen in each of these scenarios:

  1. A farmer mates his two largest pigs in the hopes of producing larger offspring. Unfortunately he quite often ends up with small or unhealthy animals due to other genes that are transferred during mating. Genetic manipulation allows for the transfer of specific genes, so that only advantageous traits are selected.
  2. Courts have, for thousands of years, relied on a description of a person's phenotype (eye color, hair color, etc.) as a means of identification. By remembering that a phenotype is the product of a particular sequence of DNA, you can quickly see how looking at someone's DNA (perhaps from a drop of blood) gives a clue as to his or her identification.
  3. Lastly, many diseases are the result of a missing or dysfunctional protein, and we have generally treated the disease by replacing the protein as best we can, generally resulting in only temporary relief and limited success. Examples include insulin-dependent diabetes, adenosine deaminase deficiency, and blood clotting disorders. Genetic engineering offers the promise that someday soon fixing the underlying mutation responsible for the lack of a particular protein can treat these diseases far more successfully than we've been able to in the past.










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