Genetic Engineering And The Human Genome Project - 2436 Words

In 1990, the science world began a vigorous new exploration of human DNA- the Human Genome Project. The goal of this project was to map out all the human genes (An Overview of, 2015), which ultimately led to a deeper understanding of all genes, not just a human’s. This deeper understanding also helped scientists to progress further in the technology of recombinant DNA. Recombinant DNA is when DNA from different cells is spliced together, creating a new strand (Kuure-Kinsey, 2000). Recombinant DNA is often used to genetically change a cell, which is known as genetic engineering. Genetic engineering can be used to prevent and alleviate symptoms of various diseases, by pinpointing and fixing the gene that causes them. It enables organisms to†¦show more content†¦Instead of testing genetic engineering directly on a human, scientists perform tests on other living things- like the Escherichia coli bacteria used in the pGLO lab. The purpose of the scientists performing the p GLO lab was to see if they were able to alter the DNA of a bacteria, E. coli, causing the bacteria to glow, if the insertion of the glow gene, which originated in a jellyfish, was successful. Four groups of bacteria were experimented with. Two of these groups were control groups; the bacteria with no DNA alteration on an agar plate containing nutrient broth, and the bacteria with the pGLO gene added on an agar plate with both Ampicillin and nutrient broth added to it. Each of these plates acted as a baseline for comparison for the other two plates, which were the experimental plates. The experimental groups were the groups consisting of unaltered bacteria on an agar plate containing Ampicillin and nutrient broth, and the altered (pGLO gene added) bacteria on an agar plate containing the nutrient broth, Ampicillin, and Arabinose sugar. Along with control groups and experimental groups, every experiment has both independent and dependent variables. In the pGLO experiment, the independ ent variables were the Ampicillin, Arabinose sugar, and the nutrient broth, all of which were added to the agar plate, as well as the pGLO gene being added to the bacteria’s DNA. These