the history of genetic engineering : (1970-1990)

The history of genetic engineering:

Genetic Engineering
(1970-1990)

By the end of the 20th century, scientists were routinely trans. planting genes between organisms. shutting them down to study their functions, and manipulating them in many other ways. These technologies were being applied to the production of new foods and medicines, and many other uses could be foreseen. Bactena might be specially engineered to clean up oil spills or other types of pollution, artificial viruses might deliver healthy DNA to people suffering From genetic illnesses, and the body’s immune system could be reprogrammed to fight off cancer and other diseases. At the same time, genetic engineering is constantly presented as a scary topic in the headlines. A few examplesfrom 2007 were Franken.Broccolic The GM Seed Giants lumber into the Vcggic Latch.” from the December 19 issue of Gristmagazine; ‘Attack of the Mutant Biotech Rice,” from the July 9 issue of Fortune; and Generically Engineered Organisms Inv

ade Our Planet.” printed in the Epoch Times of March 12. What headlines usually fail to capture is the fact that genetic engineering has been a crucial tool in answering Fundamental questions about life. Genetic engineering was made possible by the development of new forms of biotechnology. This chapter describes how work carried out between the 1970s and 1990s produced an extremely Restriction enzymes are DNA cutting molecules from bacteria that are used as tools in genetic engineering. The enzymes recognize particular DNA sequences and break the strand, leaving two sticky ends. Other molecules recognize that the broken ends match and can mend them. If researchers create an artificial molecule with broken, sticky ends that match such breaks, the repair molecules may paste it into an organism’s genome.