Genetic Engineering | EASY TO UNDERSTAND

Summary

In this educational video, Miss Angler delves into the intricate world of genetic engineering, a subset of biotechnology. She clarifies the distinction between genetic engineering and biotechnology, emphasizing that the former involves altering an organism's genetics to fulfill human needs. Miss Angler illustrates the process using bacteria and plasmids, explaining how human insulin is produced and how plants are genetically modified to enhance yield and quality. She also discusses the advantages of GMOs, such as increased yield and improved food quality, as well as potential disadvantages, including reduced gene pool and impact on biodiversity. The video concludes with a terminology recap, ensuring viewers grasp key concepts for their studies.

Takeaways

• 🧬 Genetic engineering is a subset of biotechnology, where we alter the genetics of organisms to fulfill human needs.
• 🔬 Cloning and genetic engineering are different; cloning involves creating an exact copy, while genetic engineering involves modifying an organism's DNA.
• 📚 It's important to understand both cloning and genetic engineering for exams, as they are often confused in tests.
• 🌱 Genetic engineering is used to create substances, modify food, grow medicine, and even replace disease-causing genes with healthy ones.
• 📖 Biotechnology is defined as the manipulation of biological processes to satisfy human needs, encompassing various mechanisms and processes.
• 🔍 Genetic engineering specifically involves the removal or addition of genes into an organism where they did not originally exist.
• 🦠 Bacteria are commonly used in genetic engineering due to their simple structure, rapid replication, and the accessibility of their plasmid DNA.
• 🧪 The process of making human insulin through genetic engineering involves inserting the human insulin gene into a bacterial plasmid, which then produces insulin when the bacteria replicate.
• 🌳 Genetic modification in plants involves using agrobacterium to inject modified DNA into the plant, leading to changes that can increase yield or resistance to diseases.
• 📈 Advantages of GMOs include increased yield, improved food quality, and the potential for pesticide and herbicide-free crops.
• ⚠️ Disadvantages include the potential reduction in gene pool diversity, susceptibility to the same diseases, and irreversible effects on biodiversity if GMO pollen mixes with wild varieties.

Q & A

What is genetic engineering?

Genetic engineering is a form of biotechnology where the genetics of an organism are changed to suit human needs, such as creating substances for us or modifying food.

How is genetic engineering different from biotechnology?

Biotechnology is the broader term that includes various mechanisms and processes used to satisfy human needs. Genetic engineering is a specific type of biotechnology where genes are removed or added into another organism.

Why are bacteria commonly used in genetic engineering?

Bacteria are used in genetic engineering because they have a simple structure with easily accessible plasmids, which are extranuclear pieces of DNA, and they replicate quickly, allowing for the rapid production of substances or cells.

What is a plasmid and why is it important in genetic engineering?

A plasmid is an extranuclear piece of DNA found in bacteria, often depicted as a ring. It is important in genetic engineering because it can be easily manipulated and used to insert new genes into bacteria.

Can you explain the process of creating human insulin through genetic engineering?

The process involves taking a bacterial cell, using restriction enzymes to cut out unnecessary DNA from both the bacterial and human DNA, inserting the human insulin gene into the bacterial plasmid, and then reintroducing the modified plasmid into the bacterial cell. The genetically modified bacteria multiply and produce human insulin, which is collected and used for diabetics.

How is genetic modification applied to plants?

In plants, a modified bacterium, such as Agrobacterium, is used to inject the desired DNA changes into the plant. The bacterium replicates and alters the plant's DNA, leading to changes like increased fruit production, improved quality, or resistance to disease.

What are some advantages of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?

Advantages of GMOs include increased yield, improved food quality with more nutrients, and the ability to make crops resistant to pests and herbicides, reducing the need for chemical sprays.

What are some disadvantages of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?

Disadvantages include the potential reduction in genetic diversity, which can make organisms more susceptible to diseases, and the possibility of affecting biodiversity by crossbreeding with wild varieties, which is irreversible.

What is the difference between 'biotechnology' and 'genetic engineering' in terms used in the script?

Biotechnology is the overarching term for the manipulation of biological processes to satisfy human needs, while genetic engineering specifically refers to the process of altering an organism's genes by removing or adding genes.

What is recombinant DNA and how is it related to GMOs?

Recombinant DNA is the result of inserting a new gene into a plasmid. This process creates a genetically modified organism (GMO), which can be a plant, animal, or bacterial cell with altered genetic material.

What are some key terms related to genetic engineering and biotechnology mentioned in the script?

Key terms include biotechnology, genetic engineering, plasmid, restriction enzyme, recombinant DNA, and GMO (genetically modified organism).

Outlines

00:00

🧬 Introduction to Genetic Engineering

Miss Angler begins her biology class by introducing the topic of genetic engineering. She emphasizes the importance of understanding both genetic engineering and cloning, referencing a previous video on cloning. The class is encouraged to subscribe for regular updates and to utilize study guides and flashcards available on her website. Genetic engineering is defined as a biotechnology process where human intervention changes an organism's genetics. Classic examples include engineering bacteria to produce substances and modifying food. A visual representation of genetic engineering is presented, showing the removal of non-essential DNA and insertion of new genetic material. Miss Angler clarifies the distinction between genetic engineering and biotechnology, with the latter being a broader term encompassing various processes like fermentation and genetic engineering itself.

05:02

🔬 The Role of Bacteria in Genetic Engineering

The second paragraph delves into the reasons why bacteria are used in genetic engineering, highlighting their rapid replication rate and the presence of plasmids, which are extra-nuclear DNA that can be easily manipulated. Miss Angler explains that bacteria's simple structure, particularly the absence of membrane-bound organelles and a nucleus, makes them ideal for genetic modification. The paragraph includes a step-by-step explanation of how human insulin is produced using genetically engineered bacteria, involving the use of restriction enzymes to cut DNA, insertion of the human insulin gene into the bacterial plasmid, and the subsequent production and collection of insulin by the modified bacteria.

10:02

🌱 Genetic Modification of Plants and GMOs

In the third paragraph, Miss Angler discusses the genetic modification of plants, using agrobacterium to insert desired DNA into plants to enhance traits such as fruit production, quality, size, and resistance to diseases or frost. She also addresses the advantages and disadvantages of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are frequently examined in tests. Advantages include increased yield, improved food quality, and the ability to create pest and herbicide-free crops. Disadvantages mentioned include the high initial cost of creating GMOs, reduction in gene pool leading to susceptibility to diseases, and potential negative impacts on biodiversity through gene pool contamination and the irreversible mixing of GMO DNA with wild varieties.

15:03

📚 Recap and Terminology for Genetic Engineering

The final paragraph serves as a recap of the key terms and concepts covered in the video. Miss Angler reiterates the difference between biotechnology and genetic engineering, with biotechnology being the overarching term for scientific processes that benefit humans, and genetic engineering being a specific type of biotechnology involving gene manipulation. She also reviews the importance of bacteria's plasmid in genetic engineering, the role of restriction enzymes in cutting open plasmids, and the creation of recombinant DNA and GMOs. The paragraph concludes with an invitation for viewers to like the video and a reminder of her regular posting schedule.

Keywords

💡Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering refers to the direct manipulation of an organism's genes using biotechnology. It is the core theme of the video, where Miss Angler explains how genes are removed or added to another organism to suit human needs. For example, the script mentions genetically engineered bacteria used to produce substances for humans and genetically modified food.

💡Cloning

Cloning is a biological process where an organism is produced from a single ancestor cell or group of cells, with the offspring having the same genetic material as the parent. While not the main focus of the video, cloning is mentioned as a related topic that students should understand, as it is covered in a separate video by Miss Angler.

💡Biotechnology

Biotechnology is an umbrella term for any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products for specific use. In the script, Miss Angler clarifies that biotechnology encompasses various processes, including genetic engineering, fermentation, and others, all aimed at satisfying human needs.

💡Plasmid

A plasmid is a small circular DNA molecule found in bacteria and used in genetic engineering as a vector to carry foreign DNA into a host cell. The video script explains that plasmids are advantageous for genetic engineering because they are extranuclear, easily accessible, and can be manipulated to include new genes, such as the human insulin gene.

💡Restriction Enzyme

Restriction enzymes, often referred to as 'molecular scissors' in the script, are enzymes that cut DNA at specific recognition sites. They are crucial in genetic engineering for their ability to precisely cut open a plasmid, allowing for the insertion of new genes, as illustrated in the example of creating human insulin.

💡Recombinant DNA

Recombinant DNA is a DNA molecule that is formed by combining DNA from different sources. In the context of the video, recombinant DNA is created when a new gene, such as the human insulin gene, is inserted into a plasmid. This recombinant DNA then directs the genetically modified organism to produce the desired substance, like insulin.

💡Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)

A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The script discusses how GMOs can be created for various purposes, such as producing human insulin in bacteria or modifying plants to increase fruit yield and quality.

💡Yield

In the context of the video, yield refers to the amount or quantity of a product, such as the quantity of milk produced by genetically engineered cows or the amount of fruit grown by genetically modified trees. Yield is an important advantage of GMOs, as it indicates the increased production potential.

💡Gene Pool

The gene pool is the total genetic diversity within a population. The script mentions that one of the disadvantages of GMOs is the reduction of the gene pool, as genetically modified organisms may be more uniform and less diverse, which could make them more susceptible to diseases.

💡Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life in all its forms and interactions. The video script discusses how GMOs can potentially affect biodiversity by reducing genetic variation within populations and by crossbreeding with wild varieties, which can have irreversible effects on natural ecosystems.

Highlights

Genetic engineering is a form of biotechnology used to change the genetics of an organism to suit human needs.

Understanding cloning is essential for studying genetic engineering, as they are related topics.

Genetic engineering involves removing or inserting DNA to create organisms that can produce desired substances or characteristics.

Biotechnology is a broader term that encompasses genetic engineering and other processes like fermentation.

Bacteria are commonly used in genetic engineering due to their simple structure and the accessibility of their plasmid DNA.

Plasmids are extranuclear pieces of DNA in bacteria that are easily manipulated for genetic engineering.

Genetically modified bacteria can be used to produce substances like human insulin.

Restriction enzymes act as molecular scissors to cut DNA at specific sites for genetic engineering.

The process of inserting human DNA into a bacterial plasmid and allowing the bacteria to replicate is how human insulin is produced.

Genetically modified plants can have increased fruit production, improved quality, and resistance to disease or frost.

Advantages of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) include increased yield and improved food quality.

GMOs can be pesticide and herbicide-free, reducing the need for chemical treatments in agriculture.

Disadvantages of GMOs include the potential reduction in genetic diversity and the risk of affecting biodiversity.

Creating a GMO can be expensive initially, but once developed, it can reduce costs in agriculture.

Terminology recap includes defining biotechnology, genetic engineering, plasmid, restriction enzyme, and recombinant DNA.

Genetically modified organisms can be plants, animals, or bacterial cells with altered genes for specific purposes.

Transcripts

hi everybody and welcome back to miss

Angler's biology class I am Miss angler

in today's video we are going to be

looking at genetic engineering I'm going

to break down how exactly you need to

explain it in the exam it's also

important to note that you do need to

understand cloning I already have a

video on cloning as well and I've linked

it above now please make sure that

you've watched both of these videos the

cloning and the genetic engineering

video because they cover the content in

matric that needs to be studied even

though the cloning video is made for

grade tens it is exactly the same

information that you will need to know

now for your upcoming exams and tests

now if you are new here don't forget to

like this video and make sure you're

subscribed with notifications on because

I post every Tuesday and Thursday and if

you're really struggling coming up to

exams don't forget to go check out my

study guide and my flash cards which are

both available on my website to purchase

so let's get into genetic engineering

now genetic engineering is a form of

biotechnology where we are changing the

genetics of an organism to suit the

needs of humans and that's a really

important way to sort of frame it

we are changing organisms so that they

can do something for us and some of the

classic examples that I just put here is

how we have genetically engineered

bacteria to create substances for us but

also how we have genetically modified

and engineered food as well and the

picture at the bottom simply shows what

we actually do genetic engineering is

when you take a piece of DNA

you remove a piece that we either don't

want or that is non-functional and is

not important and if we remove it it

doesn't matter it's not going to kill

the organism and what we end up doing is

we insert something into it now we can

use genetic engineering for many things

we can grow food we can make medicine

but what we can also do is we can assist

people who are ill and we can cut out

the gene that is making them ill and has

a disease or a disorder and we can

replace it with a healthy Gene

now one really important thing that I

must clarify right at the beginning of

this video is that genetic engineering

and biotechnology are not the same thing

and often in exams specifically in the

final exam we actually confuse them with

one another I want to start off by

saying that biotechnology is the big

umbrella topic all these

um like bubbles around the biotechnology

here are examples of mechanisms and

processes that we use some of them you

might be familiar with for example

fermentation which is how we make beer

and wine and yogurt

another one that you are familiar with

is what we're going to talk about now

genetic engineering and so it's

important to know that biotechnology is

the big term that we use for everything

and it's important to use the guideline

definition for this word and I've taken

it straight from the guideline and the

guideline says that biotechnology is the

manipulation of a biological process to

satisfy human needs the key being on

satisfying human needs now genetic

engineering on the other hand is a type

of biotechnology and its definition is

slightly different it is a process

whereby genes are removed or added into

another organism in other words an

organism those genes did not originate

in so one more time for clarification

biotechnology is the big topic and all

of these smaller sections including

genetics is underneath that and we have

to be able to tell the difference

because they love asking this question

in the terminology section of the final

paper

now one more thing we also need to

revise on before we move on to how we

actually genetically engineer organisms

is why do we use bacteria because they

are the main vectors or the main

organisms that are going to help us do

this job and we're going to have to go

back to their Anatomy now inside of

bacteria there are very very simple sets

of organelles and in actual fact they

don't have any major membrane-bound

organelles they do have some ribosomes

in them which might be familiar to you

for protein synthesis they do have a

cell wall and a plasma membrane and

cytoplasm but other than that they

actually lack all other membrane-bound

organelles including a nucleus but what

they do have which is very unique and

important to our discussion is a plasmid

now the plasmid is an extra nuclear

piece of DNA it is a ring and it's often

drawn as a ring and it's very accessible

and that is why we use the plasmid to

help us because we can get to it very

easily and we can cut it into pieces

very easily as opposed to the nucleoid

which is this over here which is the

giant mass of DNA on the inside of

bacteria that's very difficult to

manipulate

so now that we understand why bacteria

in terms of its structure the one other

thing we must remember is why bacteria

and why do we use them for genetic

engineering and the main thing is

besides their plasmid is they replicate

really really quickly which means they

can make lots and lots of substance or

the cells or the tissue that we are

looking for

so let's actually revise over this

genetic engineering example this is an

example of how we make human insulin now

they love asking this in the final paper

they sometimes have an incomplete

picture in other words they miss some of

the steps and they ask you questions but

I'm going to run through it and if you

don't remember this you would have

learned it in grade 10 but we do need it

for grade 12 as well so first of all we

start off with our bacterial cell over

here and you can see it has its plasmid

then what we're going to do is we're

going to take enzymes and enzymes

specifically called restriction enzymes

and we must know their name restriction

enzyme you do not need to know their

fancier scientific names just

restriction enzyme they act like pairs

of scissors and they literally cut out a

piece of the DNA that we don't need

that's not required now we do the same

thing with human DNA and we take that

extra piece of human DNA and we insert

it as you can see over here with the

plasmid and we now have a human incident

Gene inside of the bacterial plasmid now

before you think but wait can you put

human DNA inside of a bacteria won't the

bacteria know that it's not its own DNA

well no remember all DNA is written in

the same four letters which means every

organism can actually read each other's

DNA and so once we have inserted the

human insulin Gene we now insert that

plasmid back into the bacterial cell as

we can see here it's now what we call

genetically modified another word that

you might see in your textbook is called

re

component

DNA which is another word that we use

for that plasmid because it's recombined

and then what we do is we allow that

bacteria to multiply and as you see it

goes off and makes hundreds and hundreds

and hundreds of copies of itself and not

only does it do that but every time it

copies itself it reads the plasmid DNA

and it goes oh I have to make protein

and that's what you can see over here

you can see the insulin protein being

made and secreted so what happens is the

bacteria reads the DNA from their

plasmid and they start making human

insulin and it secretes on the outside

of the bacteria now this is a liquid

when it's in large amounts so we collect

it we bottle it and we create insulin

for diabetics

now one other thing I just want to go

over because you do need to be able to

explain other ways that we generally

modify organisms besides bacteria is in

particular plants now plants are a

little bit more complex but we still use

the same idea where we take a bacteria

in this case we call them agrobacterium

and we do the same thing we target a

piece of DNA that we want to cut out we

replace it with something that we want

to put in it we then take that modified

bacteria and we inject it into a plant

now what happens is that modified

bacteria goes off it starts replicating

and living inside of the bacteria but at

the same time it starts to change the

DNA of the plant which is actually what

we want because we want that plant to

make more fruit better quality fruit

maybe we want the size to increase and

so we've genetically modified it in some

way maybe we want it to be resistant to

disease or Frost and so that's how it

works in genetically modified plants

now the final thing that we need to look

at is the advantages and disadvantages

of GMOs and they love asking these in

exams and so we should know at least two

of each now this little picture here

very simple but it really captures what

a GMO is and why we have them now in

genetics we already know there's a

variety in species right this variation

and we can see here in our one plant we

have a plant that makes many small

products

but in the other plant we have a plant

that makes large but few products what

we want to do as humans is we want to

make as many large products as possible

and so what we do is we take the

genetics of the first plant where we

make many the genetics of the larger

plant because we want larger product and

we put the two together and that is what

you end up over here you have you end up

having large multiple products and that

is the advantage of a genetically

modified organism and we've actually

been doing this for thousands of years

ever since we started farming we've been

doing it but farming is a little more

slower than doing this in a lab now as I

mentioned to you earlier you need to be

able to tell me advantages in exams and

the First Advantage that we always want

to talk about is yield yield means

amount now yield can be for example cows

making milk we genetically engineer the

cows to make large quantities of milk it

can also be things like the amount of

fruit so we genetically engineer trees

to grow lots and lots and lots of big

nutrient-dense fruit which brings me to

my second Point under the advantages is

you can improve the quality of food as

well when you genetically engineer it

you can put more nutrients in it you can

put more vitamins in it

the next Advantage as well

is that you are able to make them pissed

and herbicide free

and what that means is you no longer

have to spray your crops or inject your

cattle jupitation for diseases and this

is really really great because it means

that no one's going to ingest that the

animals are not going to get it inside

and there's going to be no chemicals

involved

now when it comes to disadvantages on

the other hand it's really important to

understand the following and what I'm

going to say a lot of textbooks will say

that the disadvantages are that creating

a GMO is expensive and that is not

completely true

creating a GMO is expensive in the

beginning in the very very beginning

stages but actually once you have the

GMO it's actually cheap and what I mean

by that is developing the seed for the

plant for the very first time is

expensive but once you have it it's

incredibly cheap and it actually makes

farming cheaper for everybody

one of the other real disadvantages that

we must also acknowledge is the gene

pool

and what happens is if you genetically

modify organisms it reduces the gene

pool

and the reason for that is you start to

have a large population of every

individual being the same not

necessarily a clone sometimes a clone

but not always and we already know that

variation is really important in

populations so if you have everyone who

is the same they're all susceptible to

the same diseases so it's kind of like

well you fix the disease but now you've

made them all susceptible to the same

disease and you've got to confidently

back bounce back and forward between

those two things another disadvantage is

there is a possibility it can affect

biodiversity

and it does this in two ways one we've

already mentioned by the fact it reduces

the gene pool there's less variation but

the other way is if I were to do this in

plants if my genetically modified pollen

from my plant gets on the wild variety I

am now putting my GMO DNA into a wild

variety plant and it can never be undone

once that happens it's like

fertilization you are taking DNA from a

plant you've created and now you're

mixing it with the wild variety and once

they've mixed and they've made seeds it

is impossible to undo that especially if

it becomes widespread and it's not just

in one plant it's in millions of plants

and so those are the three disadvantages

they probably are a lot more in your

textbook but I always think three is a

good number to know when it comes to

drawing tables and having to know a list

of things things

now as always I like to finish off my

lessons with terminology recap and

remember you can use all of these words

to create flashcards to make studying

super easy now in the beginning I Define

the difference between biotechnology

which remember is a process or

scientific process that is used to

benefit humans and that's the big

umbrella term genetic engineering on the

other hand is a type of biotechnology

where we engineer genes we cut out or

paste in genes of something that we want

to add to a different organism in other

words it didn't originate in that

organism we spoke about the structure of

bacteria and how important their plasma

plasmid is for genetic engineering and

speaking of the plasmid we spoke about

the Restriction enzyme which is the

enzyme that cuts open the plasmid so

that we can stick in the new Gene we

then also looked at recombinant DNA

which is the product of inserting that

new gene into the plasmid and that

ultimately makes something called a GMO

or genetically modified organism which

could be a plant an animal or a

bacterial cell they are all considered

genetically modified organisms if you've

changed their genes to something new now

if you like this video remember to give

it a thumbs up and I post every Tuesday

and Thursday so I'll see you all again

soon bye

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