• Question: What types of organisms would you genetically modify?

    Asked by Erika Pajimna ❤ to Thomas on 8 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by AmyD2016.
    • Photo: Thomas McLoughlin

      Thomas McLoughlin answered on 8 Nov 2016:

      Genetic engineering or GMO or Modern Biotechnology, is the direct manipulation of an organism’s genome using biotechnology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including the transfer of genes within and across species boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms.
      It first started over 40 year ago when the first recombinant DNA molecules were created by Paul Berg, Stanford university by combining DNA from two different viral sources (monkey SV40 virus and a bacterial virus called lambda bacteriophage). In 1978, a US company called Genentech announced the production of GM human insulin. Over the past 40 years the biotechnology industry has mushroomed in particular, in the areas of Red (medical) and White (industrial) in all parts of the world and with Green (agriculture) in some parts of the world with the exception of the EU. Spain is an exception within the EU.

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