Gene Splicing
Gene Splicing
What Is It? Gene Splicing is one type of genetic technology. It is the process of taking pieces of DNA from one or more organisms then combining them into another DNA strand to create new DNA or recombinant DNA.
How does it Work? Chemicals called restriction enzymes are used as scissors to cut the DNA. Thousands of these restriction enzymes exist, each recognizing only a single sequence of DNA. Once it finds that sequence in a strand of DNA, it attacks it and splits the base pairs apart, leaving it like a broken chain. Scientists can now add any DNA they wish to this “broken chain” and, afterwards, the chain is repaired with an enzyme called ligase.
Pros
One of the pros of Gene Splicing is that we are able to change an organism to be better or more improved than its original self. For example, pineapples have had a record in where they were in danger due to parasites. Thanks to the technology of gene splicing, antibodies were put into the pineapple DNA to defend its self from the parasites. Another pro is that we can also create certain hormones that our bodies need such as Insulin. Insulin is useful for diabetic patients who need to control blood sugar levels. Gene Splicing can also make plants like rice and wheat produce more than usual. This is well used in third world countries that heavily depend on rice and wheat for food. Lastly, Gene Splicing could possibly be a way of curing the incurable like diseases such as paralysis, cancer, diabetes, etc. Scientists believe that gene splicing could possibly be the pathway to curing these things.
Cons
One of the cons of gene splicing is that is has the potential to go terribly wrong and cause severe or even fatal harm to the organism being tested on. Another con is that it may be unknown of the consequences. For example when making a crop of rice produce more through gene splicing it may go wrong and instead of producing more kill off the whole crop. This brings us to another con of gene
What Is It? Gene Splicing is one type of genetic technology. It is the process of taking pieces of DNA from one or more organisms then combining them into another DNA strand to create new DNA or recombinant DNA.
How does it Work? Chemicals called restriction enzymes are used as scissors to cut the DNA. Thousands of these restriction enzymes exist, each recognizing only a single sequence of DNA. Once it finds that sequence in a strand of DNA, it attacks it and splits the base pairs apart, leaving it like a broken chain. Scientists can now add any DNA they wish to this “broken chain” and, afterwards, the chain is repaired with an enzyme called ligase.
Pros
One of the pros of Gene Splicing is that we are able to change an organism to be better or more improved than its original self. For example, pineapples have had a record in where they were in danger due to parasites. Thanks to the technology of gene splicing, antibodies were put into the pineapple DNA to defend its self from the parasites. Another pro is that we can also create certain hormones that our bodies need such as Insulin. Insulin is useful for diabetic patients who need to control blood sugar levels. Gene Splicing can also make plants like rice and wheat produce more than usual. This is well used in third world countries that heavily depend on rice and wheat for food. Lastly, Gene Splicing could possibly be a way of curing the incurable like diseases such as paralysis, cancer, diabetes, etc. Scientists believe that gene splicing could possibly be the pathway to curing these things.
Cons
One of the cons of gene splicing is that is has the potential to go terribly wrong and cause severe or even fatal harm to the organism being tested on. Another con is that it may be unknown of the consequences. For example when making a crop of rice produce more through gene splicing it may go wrong and instead of producing more kill off the whole crop. This brings us to another con of gene