Question

A farmer produces two types of corn plants. One has larger sized kernels but fewer yields and another has smaller sized kernels with high yield. He wants to produce a corn plant with larger sized kernels with high yield.

Which of these methods would be applicable for this?
A. Eliminate the gene for lesser yield from the genome of larger sized kernels and eliminate the gene for smaller sized kernels from the other corn variety.
B. Insert the genome responsible for larger sized kernels into the gene of the corn with smaller sized kernels and a high yield.
C. Insert the gene responsible for larger sized kernels into the genome of the corn with smaller sized kernels and a high yield.

Answer 1

If the farmer chooses option A, he is merely left with two types of corn that produce no yield at all, because in the one instance he will eliminate the gene that produces yield and in the second plant it will produce no kernels because the gene is eliminated. It is impossible to insert an entire genome into the genetic material of another organism. The genome is the entire genetic data of an organism, including junk DNA etc, so option B is out. The best way to do it is to genetically introduce the gene for larger sized kernels into the corn plant that produces higher yields using molecular cloning techniques. So the correct answer is C.