Question

Which of the following examples of biotechnology are also examples of genetic engineering technology? Check all that apply.

A.
⎯ Poplar trees that have been genetically altered to absorb and break down groundwater pollutants through their roots
⎯ Bananas that have been altered to produce human vaccines. The affects of eating such a banana is similar to receiving a traditional vaccine.
⎯ Glow-in-the-dark mice
⎯ Cloning a sheep

Answer 1

All options are techniques of genetic engineering

Explanation:

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms whose genetic material has been manipulated by using genetic engineering techniques. GMOs generally exhibit some beneficial features such as, in this case, GMO poplar trees that absorb and break down groundwater pollutants. Moreover, plants and other organisms can also be modified by genetic engineering techniques in order to use them as biofactories that synthesize some chemical compound capable of triggering an immune response (for example, bananas have been used to produce vaccines for diarrhea). Moreover, the Green Fluorescence Protein (GFP) is a protein widely used in genetic engineering that can be inserted into the genome of animals and/or other species by transgenic methods. This protein (GFP) is used in genetic engineering in order to monitor gene expression patterns, localize proteins in the cells, determine mobility, determine protein-protein interactions, etc. Finally, cloning is a genetic engineering technique used to produce organisms that are genetically identical copies of other organisms (i.e., clones). A sheep called Dolly was the first animal clone, which was cloned by using an adult sheep cell.