Genetic Modification Practice Questions

Which of these describes selective breeding?

Put a cross ( ☒ ) in the box next to your answer.

☐ A changing the genome of an organism by inserting a gene from a different species

☐ B choosing organisms that show a desired characteristic and breeding them together over many generations

☐ C producing genetically identical offspring from a single parent organism

☐ D the organisms best adapted to the environment surviving and reproducing

Describe how the farmer could use selective breeding to increase the milk yield of the herd.

State what is meant by genetic engineering.

Give two practical benefits to fish farmers of farming GM salmon rather than ordinary salmon.

Name the type of enzyme used to cut the growth hormone gene out of the fish DNA.

Explain why the same restriction enzyme is used to cut out the Bt gene and to cut open the plasmid.

Growing GM Bt cotton means farmers spray much less insecticide on their fields.

Discuss the benefits and risks of growing GM Bt cotton.

Suggest one characteristic, other than larger grains, that wheat has been selectively bred for.

Explain why growing a single selectively bred variety of wheat over a very large area is a risk to farmers.

Give one similarity and one difference between selective breeding and genetic engineering.

Explain why selective breeding could not have been used to produce sheep that make human AAT in their milk.

Calculate the percentage increase in mean yield of the GM maize compared with the non-GM maize in the drought year.

A farmer lives in a region where droughts happen often. The GM seed costs more than the non-GM seed.

Using the data in Table 1, explain whether the farmer should buy the GM seed.

Part of the hepatitis B vaccine is a protein that is normally found on the outside of the hepatitis B virus. Yeast cells can be genetically engineered so that they make large amounts of this protein.

Explain how yeast cells can be genetically engineered to produce this viral protein.

Explain why the female offspring of the GM males inherit the inserted gene.

Evaluate the use of these genetically engineered mosquitoes to control dengue fever, including practical and ethical implications.