Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering Lecture – Practice Flashcards

Fill-in-the-blank flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the biotechnology, genetic engineering, medical applications, and disease sections of the lecture notes.

is the use of cellular processes to make products useful to humans.

Biotechnology

Introducing foreign DNA into a cell to create new genetic combinations is known as __ technology.

Recombinant DNA (Genetic engineering)

Organisms whose genomes have been altered are called .

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

A GMO that contains a gene from another species is specifically termed a organism.

Transgenic

Golden rice is an example of a crop engineered to produce vitamin A.

Transgenic

Enzymes that cut DNA at specific palindromic sequences are called endonucleases.

Restriction

DNA pieces generated by restriction enzyme digestion are called restriction .

Fragments

Restriction enzymes that leave overhangs create ends.

Sticky

Restriction enzymes that leave no overhangs produce ends.

Blunt

The enzyme that joins DNA fragments by sealing sugar-phosphate backbones is .

DNA ligase

A circular DNA molecule used to carry foreign DNA into a cell is called a .

Vector (e.g., plasmid)

DNA from different origins joined together is called DNA.

Recombinant

To amplify a DNA segment, scientists use the technique known as .

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

The ability to read the order of nucleotides in DNA is referred to as DNA .

Sequencing

In hepatitis B vaccine production, the gene for the viral surface antigen is inserted into cells to express the protein.

Yeast

Both DNA and mRNA vaccines work by enabling our cells to produce the that trigger immunity.

Antigen (target protein)

Type 1 diabetes results from immune destruction of pancreatic cells.

Beta

In Type 1 diabetes, the hormone is not produced.

Insulin

Before recombinant DNA methods, insulin was extracted from the pancreases of and pigs.

Cows

Type 2 diabetes is mainly caused by body cells becoming less to insulin.

Responsive

A diet high in fat, sugar and low in fibre increases the risk of Type __ diabetes.

2

Hyperthyroidism, often caused by Graves’ disease, is due to excessive secretion of .

Thyroxine

Protruding eyeballs (exophthalmos) are a symptom commonly associated with .

Graves’ disease (Hyperthyroidism)

Hypothyroidism frequently results from a dietary deficiency of .

Iodine

Synthetic thyroxine tablets contain the hormone analogue .

Levothyroxine (T4)

Human growth hormone is now produced by recombinant DNA instead of extraction from glands.

Pituitary

The complete set of genetic information in an organism is its .

Genome

The Human Genome Project aimed to identify all human genes, about protein-coding genes.

21,000

Replacing or repairing defective genes in a patient is called therapy.

Gene

Cystic fibrosis is caused by mutations in the gene.

CFTR

In gene therapy, corrected genes are commonly delivered using a harmless .

Viral vector

Stem cells that can differentiate into almost any cell type are described as .

Pluripotent

Induced pluripotent stem cells are abbreviated as .

iPSCs

Replacing lost dopamine neurons with stem-cell-derived neurons is a therapy under development for .

Parkinson’s disease

An engineered 3-D support structure on which cells grow to form tissue is called a .

Scaffold

For tissue engineering, scaffold materials must be so they are absorbed without surgery.

Biodegradable

A scaffold should have high size to allow nutrient diffusion.

Pore

Restriction sites are typically to 8 base pairs long.

4

Restriction enzymes are named after their of origin, e.g., EcoRI from Escherichia coli.

Bacterial strain

DNA fragments cut with the same restriction enzyme have sticky ends and can anneal.

Complementary

The Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine uses a harmless vector to deliver spike protein genes.

Adenovirus

DNA vaccines introduce plasmid DNA, whereas mRNA vaccines deliver the message directly to cellular .

Ribosomes

In cell replacement therapy, undifferentiated cells that can give rise to specialized tissues are called cells.

Stem

One ethical concern in stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells.

Embryonic

High blood sugar that damages vessels, eyes and kidneys is termed .

Hyperglycaemia

In recombinant insulin production, bacterial plasmids containing the insulin gene are taken up by cells.

Bacterial

All transgenic organisms are GMOs, but not all GMOs are .

Transgenic

The sugar-phosphate bond cut by restriction enzymes occurs between the sugar and .

Phosphate group