{"id":1240,"date":"2019-11-25T20:35:37","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T03:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/?p=1240"},"modified":"2019-11-25T20:35:37","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T03:35:37","slug":"unit-3a-1-genetic-modification-and-gene-transfer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/2019\/11\/25\/unit-3a-1-genetic-modification-and-gene-transfer\/","title":{"rendered":"Unit 3a-1: Genetic Modification and Gene Transfer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/presentation\/d\/1xYRAgJR3-HeORXvyNsWNwKTH7EJc0pLbg2dIr_gOwPU\/edit?usp=sharing\">GMOs Fact or Fiction<\/a> (From Class Activity)<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Common GMOs Commercially Available:<\/span><\/h5>\n<h5><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1242\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.11.00-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"553\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.11.00-PM.png 553w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.11.00-PM-257x300.png 257w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 553px) 100vw, 553px\" \/><\/h5>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>1. Genetic Modification<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>GMO<\/b><b> \u2013 <\/b>an organism that has had its DNA or genetic material altered in some way. Usually from the inclusion of an another organism&#8217;s DNA into its own.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The genetic code is <\/b><b>universal<\/b> <b>\u2013 same amino acids are used in protein synthesis. <\/b><b><i>Therefore, all living organisms can be genetically modified.<\/i><\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Therefore, <\/b>we can genetically modify\/engineer species through <b>gene transfer.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Gene transfer<\/b><b> \u2013 <\/b>Technique of taking one gene out of an organism (the donor organism) and placing it in another organism (host organism)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1243\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.15.14-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"391\" height=\"436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.15.14-PM.png 391w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.15.14-PM-269x300.png 269w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 391px) 100vw, 391px\" \/><\/p>\n<h5><strong>A. A Mythical GMO<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><i>Tomato Plants with \u201cfish genes\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1244\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.18.57-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"452\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.18.57-PM.png 452w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.18.57-PM-300x159.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 452px) 100vw, 452px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Arctic Flounder can create an <b>antifreeze protein<\/b> to keep its blood liquid.<\/p>\n<p>Tomatoes are <b>very susceptible<\/b> to quick freezes that can wipe out entire crops.<\/p>\n<p><b>Goal: <\/b><i>Create a <\/i><i>tomato plant<\/i><i> that can create its own antifreeze protein to protect crops from being wiped out by frost.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1245\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.20.08-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"823\" height=\"186\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.20.08-PM.png 823w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.20.08-PM-300x68.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.20.08-PM-768x174.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.20.08-PM-552x125.png 552w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 823px) 100vw, 823px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Reflect: <\/strong><\/span><strong>Thoughts or concerns about this potential GMO? What about inserting animal genes into plants? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Process:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1246\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.21.36-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"841\" height=\"468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.21.36-PM.png 841w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.21.36-PM-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.21.36-PM-768x427.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.21.36-PM-552x307.png 552w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 841px) 100vw, 841px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1247\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.21.44-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"476\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.21.44-PM.png 476w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.21.44-PM-300x130.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 476px) 100vw, 476px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Outcomes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The antifreeze protein inhibited ice formation in flounder blood, but after extensive tests there was <b>no benefit in transgenic tomatoes.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li>The tomato never became commercialized and never was sold.<\/li>\n<li>Stories of \u201cFishy\u201d tomatoes causing allergic reactions to those who are allergic to fish become widespread.<\/li>\n<li>It became the most widely used example for \u201c<b>Anti-GMO<\/b>\u201d advocates (even today).<\/li>\n<li>Claims that <b>all GMOs we eat are unnatural<\/b> due to mixing genes between animals and plants.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Correcting Misconceptions &#8211; Note Break:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<h6>Go through your list of approval and commercially available GMOs. Do you see any <b>plants\/crops (recipient)<\/b> that have <b>animal genes<\/b> (donor)?<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Yes, there are some approved. None are for sale.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>\n<h6>If we did take one single gene from a flounder and inserted it into a tomato, would that tomato be \u201cfishy\u201d? Why or why not?<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Inserting a fish gene into a tomato does not make a tomato \u201cfishy\u201d. We share some genes with fish (60-70%), <i>but that doesn\u2019t make us fish<\/i>. Indeed, a single gene can hardly be considered \u201cpart of\u201d a specific organism at all. An organism is defined by their genome &#8211; the entirety of their genes and their interactions.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>\n<h6>Some claim \u201canimal genes\u201d being inserted into plants is unnatural and too far. Do you believe this is true? Why or why not?<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>All living things have the same DNA &#8211; four nucleotides A, C, T, G. A plant donor gene and an animal donor gene would be no different.<\/p>\n<h5><strong>B. A Real GMO<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/diabetes\/blood-glucose-19\/video-how-insulin-lowers-blood-sugar\"><b>Human insulin<\/b><\/a><b> is a hormone that regulates glucose levels in blood<\/b>. People with type 1 diabetes do not produce their own insulin. Therefore, insulin therapy is vital to stabilize blood glucose and allow cells to get glucose for cellular respiration. Collecting this hormone is very challenging and used to require collection from dead bodies or from dead cows\/pigs (limited amounts!)<\/p>\n<p><b>Goal: Engineer a common bacterium to produce insulin quickly and cheaply.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Insulin: A GMO Story\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CIUQPg38wkk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>Production of human <\/b><b>insulin <\/b>(a hormone that regulates glucose levels in blood) is an example of <b>gene transfer<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>How it works:<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>1. mRNA that codes for insulin is extracted from pancreatic cells. The DNA of the insulin gene is made from this.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>mRNA<\/b><b> &#8211; is <\/b><b>Messenger RNA<\/b><b>.<\/b> DNA is copied into this so the \u201cblueprint\u201d\u201d for a protein (i.e. 1 gene) can leave the nucleus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1248\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.29.58-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"578\" height=\"405\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.29.58-PM.png 578w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.29.58-PM-300x210.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.29.58-PM-552x387.png 552w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 578px) 100vw, 578px\" \/><\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><b>Plasmids from bacteria cells<\/b> are cut with a restriction enzyme (an enzyme that recognizes and cuts a specific code of DNA)\u00a0 leaving ends the <b>DNA can attach to \u201csticky ends\u201d or long overhangs.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1249\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.30.44-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"281\" height=\"237\" \/><\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>The <b>target gene pairs with the sticky ends <\/b>of the plasmid<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1250\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.31.22-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"826\" height=\"443\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.31.22-PM.png 826w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.31.22-PM-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.31.22-PM-768x412.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.31.22-PM-552x296.png 552w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 826px) 100vw, 826px\" \/><\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>Another enzyme (DNA Ligase)completely smooths and connects the DNA together. It is now one DNA molecule of <b>recombinant DNA<\/b><b> (<\/b><b>DNA from more than one source<\/b> &#8211; in this case: human and bacteria).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1251\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.32.08-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"663\" height=\"176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.32.08-PM.png 663w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.32.08-PM-300x80.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.32.08-PM-552x147.png 552w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 663px) 100vw, 663px\" \/><\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li><b>I<\/b>nsulin carrying plasmid is then inserted into a a host bacteria without a plasmid (<i>Ex<\/i>. <i>E. coli)<\/i><\/li>\n<li>These bacterial cells now can produce <b>insulin<\/b> which we can extract and use!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1252\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.32.54-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"498\" height=\"365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.32.54-PM.png 498w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/files\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-25-at-7.32.54-PM-300x220.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ethics and Business Practices:<\/strong> Insulin Pricing in USA (Extra)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why Insulin Is So Expensive | So Expensive\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7Ycd8zEdoVk?start=255&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"post-excerpt\">GMOs Fact or Fiction (From Class Activity) Common GMOs Commercially Available: 1. Genetic Modification GMO \u2013 an organism that has&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1200970],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biology-11"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1253,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1240\/revisions\/1253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mrpletsch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}