UNIT 12

Genetic engineering

Key words and phrases

Term – термін

Coined – придумав

Genetic engineering – генна інженерія

Breeding – розведення

Crop plants – хлібні злаки

Damage – пошкодження

Insecticide – інсектицид

Synthetic insulin – синтетичний інсулін

Disorder – розлад

Inherited – успадкований

Leave – залишати

Crops – зернові

Offspring – нащадок

Genetic engineering

The term “genetic engineering”was coined in J.Williamson´s science fiction novel Dragon’s Island, published in 1951. It happened two years before J.Watson and F.Crick indicated that DNA could be the medium of transmission of genetic information.

Genetic engineering concernsthe direct manipulation of an organism gene. It is different from traditional breeding, where organism genes are manipulated indirectly. Genetic engineering uses the techniques of molecular cloning and transformation to alter the structure and characteristics of genes. For example, crop plants can be given a gene from an Arctic fish, so they produce an antifreeze protein in their leaves. This can help prevent frost damage. Genetic engineering programs are working on creating a disease-resistant, mass-market banana. Other genes, which can be put into crops, include a natural insecticide. The insecticide kills insects that eat the plants, but is harmless to people. In all these cases the new genes are placed into the plant before it is grown, so the genes will be in every part of the plant, including its seeds. The plant offspring will then inherit the new genes, something which has led to disquiet about the spread of new traits into wild plants. Genetically modified crops have become a common source for genetic pollution today.

Genetic engineering techniques have found some successes in numerous applications. Besides improving crop production technology, substances like synthetic insulin or antibiotics are also produced on the base of genetic engineering.

The kind of technology used in genetic engineering is also being developed to treat people with genetic disorder in so called gene therapy. However, here the new gene is put in after the person has grown up and become ill. It means any new genes will not be inherited by the person´s children. In fact, the gene therapy tries to replace the allele that causes the disease with an allele that will work properly.