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BIO200 Gene Manipulation in Plants- OPEN University

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Open University

S250_1
10 Hours 

Level
Intermediate

Course Home (Click Here)

Course Description

In recent years, scientists have made huge gains in their understanding of how genes can be altered and transferred from one organism to another – but that knowledge has been acquired amidst controversy and concern. The deep ethical concerns that have resulted from the emergence of genetic manipulation are explored in this unit. We begin with an examination of the basic structure and function of genes. A number of pioneering examples and techniques are explored, helping to explain why our present-day view of genetic manipulation can combine feelings of optimism and unease. Examples are drawn from both plants (notably GM crops) and animals (including Dolly the sheep), with a special emphasis on the implications of promising medical techniques such as gene therapy. Our hope is that by exploring the science ‘behind the headlines’, and its interactions with the equally complex social factors, we will acquire a clearer idea of both what is possible and what may be desirable.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

  • understand more about the science that underlies the development of genetically modified organisms and in particular how gene transfer is brought about;
  • know something of the potential benefits and uncertainties associated with gene transfer and the high levels of technical ingenuity involved;
  • be better able to understand the science that underpins the development of Golden Rice and understand why the usefulness of this product has proved so contentious.

Introduction

  • Introduction Resource
  • In recent years, scientists have made huge gains in their understanding of how genes can be altered and transferred from one organism to another – but that knowledge has been acquired amidst controversy...

1 Genetic manipulation of plants and GM crops: an introduction

2 Genetic modification of plant cells

  • Preamble Resource
  • Your answers to Activity 1 will have revealed that the initial development of commercial GM crops has focused on the introduction of two traits: herbicide tolerance and insect resistance. However, many...
  • 2.1 Crown gall disease: genetic engineering in nature Resource
  • A. tumefaciens causes crown gall disease in a wide range of dicotyledonous plants. (Dicotyledonous plants, are also known as dicots, have broad leaves with branching veins. An example would be a broad...
  • 2.2 Using A. tumefaciens to genetically modify plant cells Resource
  • Genetic engineers have capitalised on the fact that part of the DNA from the Ti plasmid of A. tumefaciens is integrated into the plant genome during the infection process. Ti plasmids can be isolated and...
  • 2.3 From infected cells to transgenic plants Resource
  • Unlike the ‘natural’ infection process, where only the cells at the site of the crown gall are affected by the inserted T-DNA, scientists wanted to introduce new genes into all the cells of the plant....

3 Common traits introduced by GM

  • 3.1 Insect resistance Resource
  • We will now look briefly at the science underlying the traits introduced into commercial crops, which you explored in Activity 1; a useful place to start is by considering how the property of resistance...
  • 3.2 Herbicide tolerance Resource
  • As you discovered from Activity 1, herbicide tolerance is the trait most commonly incorporated into commercial GM plants. A crop can be made tolerant to herbicide by inserting a gene that causes plants...

4 Golden Rice: a case study

  • Introduction Resource
  • In the previous section, you explored the science related to the development of the two traits found in the early commercial GM crops. Their production has been driven by commercial imperatives, and some...
  • 4.1 Vitamin A deficiency Resource
  • Vitamin A, more properly known as retinol, is an important chemical intermediate in a number of biochemical processes in mammals. It is involved in vision, and is found in the rod cells of the retina of...
  • 4.2 The science behind Golden Rice Resource
  • Modifying crops to produce the Bt toxin (Section 3.1) was, in some ways, relatively simple. The toxin is a single protein and can therefore be produced as a result of the insertion of a single gene into...
  • 4.3 Golden Rice in the public domain Resource
  • In January 2000, the successful experiments were announced in a paper published in the American journal Science. This, in itself, is significant. Generally, work on genetic manipulation would be published...
  • 4.4 The ongoing story Resource
  • At the time of writing (2006), the Golden Rice tale is an unfinished story. Some of the developments of the last five years are summarised here.

5 Summary

  • 5 Summary Resource
  • At the time of writing (2006) a relatively small number of types of GM crop have been grown globally, in a limited number of countries. The take-up of these crops has been relatively high in countries...

References and Acknowledgements

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Copyright 2007, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. administrator. (2010, January 28). BIO200 Gene Manipulation in Plants- OPEN University. Retrieved March 12, 2010, from Free University Courses OCW Courses OpenCourseWare Freeversity Foundation Web site: http://freeversity.org/science-and-mathematics/biology/bio200-gene-manipulation-in-plants-open-university. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons License