Bacteria Essay

Bacteria – Were the first organisms to be genetically engineered and are used for replicating and altering genes that are introduced into plants or animals. Bacterial systems duplicate themselves rapidly to increase in size and number. It is easy to produce a genetically identical population - a clone of bacteria - all containing the gene of interest in a short period. The cells can then be lysed and DNA can be isolated in short order. Bacteria are routinely used to produce non-bacterial proteins. An example is the production of purified proteins for vaccine use. These proteins can be safer than and as effective as vaccines that contain killed or weakened pathogens.
New traits introduced to crop plants by genetic engineering have the potential to increase crop yields, improve farming all over the world, or add nutritiants that are not needed from the ground. For example, transgenic crop plants capable of degrading weed killers allow farmers to spray weeds without affecting yield. Use of herbicide-tolerant crops may also allow farmers to move away from pre-emergent herbicides and reduce tillage; this then means soil erosion and water loss will be prevented to almost nothing. Transgenic plants that express insecticidal toxins resist attacks from insects. Crops engineered to resist insects are an alternative to sprays, which may not reach all parts of the plant. They are also cost effective, reducing the use of synthetic insecticides. Genetic engineering has also been used to increase the nutritional value of food; "golden rice" is engineered to produce beta-carotene, for example. Edible vaccines, present in the plants we eat, may be the future way of vaccination so no more needles.
Dolly the lamb was the first example of livestock clone from DNA of an adult animal. But the real breakthrough came with Polly, the first transgenic lamb. Born the year after Dolly, Polly was given a human gene that encodes blood-clotting factor IX, the protein missing in people with...