CONCEPT MAP

Key Concepts: Key Vocabulary:

Cultivated Plants

Domesticated Animals

Restriction Enzymes

Plasmid

Recombinant DNA

Selective Breeding

Human Genome

For thousands of years, cultivated plants and domesticated animals have resulted from selective breeding.

Recently, new varieties of farm plants and animals have been engineered by manipulating their genetic instructions.

Topic:

Genetic Technology

Different enzymes can be used to cut, copy, and move segments of DNA – leading to recombinant DNA.

Inserting, deleting, and substituting DNA segments can alter genes and modify characteristics.

Knowledge of genetics makes possible new fields of health care – isolating mutations that cause disease – preventatives.

Examples:

Graphic organizer for domestication of cats and dogs.

Report, with diagrams, describing selective breeding for higher milk production.

Diagram of restriction enzymes cutting DNA at specific points – resulting DNA fragments.

Construct paper model of DNA fragment and bacterial plasmid making recombinant DNA.

Enduring Understanding (s): The genetic makeup of every organism is unique. Mapping the genome of an organism allows scientists to identify gene locations. If genes can be manipulated and substituted, then the characteristics of an organism can be manipulated as well.

Essential Question (s): Why are there so many breed of dogs? Can we build a “superhuman”? Can people with genetic diseases ever be cured? How can genetic technology solve the problem of world hunger?