Genetic Engineering and Developments in Biotechnology

Genetic Engineering and Developments in Biotechnology — page 3
HOW GENES WORK All organisms inherit characteristics from their parents You can probably see that you share some features with your parents and any brothers or sisters you have These characteristics are carried in genes chemical codes carried in most cells in the body Every gene holds a recipe for a single protein that the organism can produce Together these proteins produce the organism's characteristics and control how it works For example there are proteins that make a hair black and proteins that help you digest food If a protein is changed or not made that will produce a change in the organism It can be a good change a bad change or a change that doesn't make much difference an eye works just as well if it is blue or brown for instance When genetic engineers make changes to organisms they change the proteins that are being made by the organism Passing it on Many plants and animals reproduce sexually meaning they have two parents Half of the new organism's genes come from each parent mixing characteristics from each Microorganisms such as bacteria reproduce asexually there is only one parent Ordinarily each new organism is an exact copy of the parent with all the same genes Members of a family share genetic similarities but there are differences between individuals