Genetic engineering
Insects have eaten the cotton leaf on the left down to scraps. The leaf on the right comes from genetically modified cotton, which carries a gene taken from a bacterium that helps it resist insect attack. Putting a gene from one organism into another is genetic engineering.
By the end of this page you can
- Describe uses of genetic engineering and DNA technology
- Discuss advantages and concerns of genetic engineering
- Put the steps of making insulin with bacteria in order
- Define genetic engineering, plasmid and DNA fingerprinting
- Answer exam questions on genetic engineering
Goals tick themselves off as you try the activities below.
Photo: CSIRO, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped.
Ordinary cotton (left) and genetically modified cotton (right) after insect attack, photographed by Australia’s national science agency.
How often it shows up in past papers
Paper 1 counts come from our past-paper bank of CSEC Biology Paper 1s. Paper 2 is not included yet.
Four ways DNA technology helps
Genetic engineering and DNA tests are already part of medicine, farming, the law and conservation. Tap each card.
Advantages and concerns
“Discuss” questions want both sides: advantages and concerns.
Advantage or concern?
Tap a point to see its side.
Gene therapy aims to treat a hereditary disease by putting a working copy of a gene into a patient’s cells. It raises the same mix of hope and ethical questions.
Making insulin with bacteria
Drag or tap each step into its slot.
What must happen to the human DNA first?
Seven terms to know cold
Say what each term means before you flip the card. Name a real example whenever you use one.
Six quick questions, then a real one
Pick an answer to see why it’s right or wrong.
Genetic engineering is best described as
Golden rice was developed to help prevent
In producing human insulin, the insulin gene is inserted into
Which is an advantage of making insulin by genetic engineering?
Which is an ECOLOGICAL concern about genetically modified crops?
DNA fingerprinting can be used to
exam style · 3 marks
Describe how genetic engineering is used to produce human insulin.
Sign in to have your answer marked, or check it against the mark scheme. Sign in
Practice questions are written by My V.I.P. Academy. They are not official CXC papers.