Functions of the blood

Red blood cells have the job of carrying oxygen

Plasma is a pale yellow liquid which carries just about
everything
that transport
needs transporting
around
your body.
Red blood cells
oxygen from
the lungs
to all
the cells in the body. The structure of a red blood cell is
- Red blood cells, white blood cells, and
adapted to its function:
platelets (used in blood clotting).
-- Water
Red blood cells are small and have a biconcave
- Digested food products like glucose and amino
shape to give a large area to volume ratio for
acids from the gut to all the body cells.
absorbing and releasing oxygen.
- Carbon dioxide from the body cells to the lungs
- They contain haemoglobin, which is what gives
- Urea from the liver to the kidneys (where its
blood its colour it contains a lot of iron. In the
removed in the urine).
lungs, haemoglobin
with messengers
oxygen to
- Hormones,
they actcombines
like chemical
become oxyhaemoglobin.
In body tissues
the
- Antibodies,
are proteins involved
in the bodys
reverse happens
immune
responseto release oxygen to the cells.
- Red blood cells dont have a nucleus this frees up
space for more haemoglobin, so they can carry
more oxygen.

Blood cells are designed for their functions

3 different blood vessels:
1) Arteries carry the blood away from the heart
2) Capillaries these are involved in the exchange of
materials at the tissues
3) Veins these carry the blood to the heart
Arteries carry blood under pressure
-

Heart pumps blood out at high pressure, so the artery

walls are strong and elastic.

The walls are thick compared to the size of the whole

down the middle (the lumen) they contain thick layers
of muscle to make them strong.

Continued
Capillaries are really small
-

Arteries branch into capillaries. Capillaries are too small

to see.

They carry the blood really close to every cell in the

body to exchange substances with them.

They have permeable walls, so substances can diffuse in

and out.

They supply food and oxygen, they take away wastes

like carbon dioxide

Their walls are usually only one cell thick. This increases
the rate of diffusion, by decreasing the distance over

Continued.
Veins take blood back to the heart
-

Capillaries eventually join up to form veins.

The blood is at lower pressure in the veins so the walls

dont need to be as thick as artery walls.

They have a bigger lumen than the arteries to help

blood flow despite the low pressure.

They also have valves to help keep the blood flowing in

the right direction

Get pics of arteries, veins and capilleries from textbook page 57

Mammals have a double circulatory system

Get pic of heart page 58
The first system connects the heart to the lungs. Deoxygenated
blood is pumped to the lungs to take in oxygen. The blood then
returns to the heart.
The second system connects the heart to the rest of the body.
The oxygenated blood in the heart is pumped out to the body. It
gives up its oxygen, and the deoxygenated blood returns to the
heart to be pumped out of the lungs again.
Not all animals have a double circulatory system (fish dont).
There are advantages to mammals having double circulatory
systems though. Returning the blood to the heart after its picked
up oxygen at the lungs, means it can be pumped out around the
body at a higher pressure. This increases the rate of blood flow to
the tissues (i.e. blood can be pumped around the body much
faster), so more oxygen can be delivered to the cells. This is
important for mammals, because they use up a lot of oxygen

The heart
The right atrium of the heart receives deoxygenated blood
from the body (through the vena cava). Plural of
atrium=atria.
The deoxygenated blood moves to the right ventricle, which
pumps it to the lungs (via the pulmonary artery).
The left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the lungs
(through the pulmonary vein).
The oxygenated blood then moves through to the left
ventricle, which pumps it round the whole body (via the
aorta).
The left ventricle has a much thicker wall than the right
ventricle. It needs more muscle to pump blood round the
whole body, whereas the right ventricle only pumps it to the

Selective breeding
It is when humans artificially select the plants r animals that
are going to breed and have their genes remain in the
population, according to what we want from them. Organisms
are selectively bred to develop the best features, which are
things like:
-

Maximum yield of meat, milk or grain.

Good health and disease resistance
Other qualities like temperament(nature), speed and
attractiveness

Basic process involved in selective breeding

-

From your existing stock, select the ones which have

the best characteristics.
Breed them with each other
Select the best of the offspring and breed them
together.

The main drawback is a reduction in the gene pool

The main problem with selective breeding is that it reduces the
gene pool the number of different alleles (forms of a gene) in
a population. This is because the farmer keeps breeding from
the best animals or plants which are closely related. This is
known as inbreeding.
Inbreeding can cause health problems because there's more
chance of the organisms developing harmful genetic disorders
when the gene pool is limited. This is because lots of genetic
conditions are recessive you need to alleles to be the same
for it to have an effect. Breeding from closely related
organisms all the time means that recessive alleles are more
likely to build up in the population (because the organisms are
likely to share the same alleles).
There can also be serious problems if a new disease appears,
because theres not much variation in the population. So if one

Genetic engineering
Basic idea behind genetic engineering is to move genes
(sections of DNA) from one organism to another so that it
produces useful biological products.
Advantage
You can produce organisms with new and useful features very
quickly.
Disadvantage
The inserted gene may have unexpected harmful effects.
E.g. genes are often inserted into bacteria so they produce
useful products. If these bacteria mutated and became
pathogenic, the foreign genes may make them more harmful
and unpredictable. People also worry about engineered DNA
escaping e.g. weeds could gain rogue genes from a crop

Important stages in genetic engineering

3 examples of genetic engineering
In some parts of the world, the population heavily relies on rice
for food.
In gene
thesethats
areas,responsible
vitamin A deficiency
can the
be adesirable
problem,
1) The
for producing
because
rice doesnt is
contain
much
thisgene
vitamin,
and other
characteristic
selected
(i.e.ofthe
for human
sourcesinsulin).
are scarce. Genetic engineering has allowed scientists
to take a gene that controls beta-carotene production from
2) plants,
Its thenand
cutput
from
the DNA
using enzymes,
and then
isolated.
carrot
it into
rice plants.
Humans can
change the beta carotene into vitamin A.
Thefor
useful
gene
is inserted
into the
another
The3)
gene
human
insulin
production
has DNA
beenofput
into
organism
(i.e.cultured
bacterium).
bacteria.
These are
in a fermenter and the human
insulin is simply extracted from the medium as they produce it.
4) The organism then replicates an soon there are loads of
similarhave
organisms
all producing
thing frost
(i.e. lots
Some plants
resistance
to things the
like same
herbicides,
ofand
bacteria
producing
human its
insulin).
damage
disease.
Unfortunately
not always the plants
we want to grow that have these features. But now thanks to
genetic engineering we can cut out the gene responsible and
stick it into useful plants and crops.

There are moral and ethical issues involved in genetic

engineering.
Some people think its wrong to genetically engineer some
organisms purely for human benefit, this is a particular problem in
the genetic engineering of animals, especially if the animal suffers
as a result.
People worry that we wont stop at engineering plants and animals.
In the future, those who can afford genetic engineering might be
able to decide the characteristics they want their children to have,
and those who cant afford it could become a genetic underclass.
The evolutionary consequences of genetic engineering are unknown,
so some people think its irresponsible to carry on when were not
sur what the impact on future generations might be.
To insert a genetically engineered animal organ into a
human, without having it rejected. The organ could be
genetically altered with human genes to trick a humans

Gene therapy
It involves changing a persons genes in an attempt to cure
genetic disorders. Scientists havent got it to work properly.
2 types of gene therapy
-

The first would involve changing the genes in the boy

cells , particularly the cells that are most affected by
the disorder. For example, cystic fibrosis affects the
lungs, so therapy for it would target the cells lining
the lungs. This wouldnt affect the individuals
gametes (sperm/egg) though, so any offspring could
still inherit the disorder.
The second type involves changing the genes in the
gametes. This means that every cell of any offspring
produced from these gametes will be affected by the
therapy and the offspring wont suffer from the
disease. This therapy is currently illegal.

Gene therapy involving gametes is controversial

(debateable)
-

For example, it might have unexpected

consequences, which cause a whole new set of
problems. This problem may then be inherited by
the future generations.
There's a fear that this type of therapy could lead
to designer babies which again is unfair.
Cloning

Clones are genetically identical organisms

Clones occur naturally in plants and animals, identical
twins are clones of each other.

Cloning an adult animal is done by transferring a cell

nucleus
The first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell
was a sheep called dolly. Dolly was produced visa nuclear
transfer. This involves placing the nucleus of a body cell into an
egg cell.
The nucleus of a sheeps egg cell was removed this left the egg
without any genetic information
Another nucleus was entered in its place. This was a diploid
nucleus from an udder cell of a different sheep (the one being
cloned) and had all its genetic info.
The cell was given an electric shock, so that it started dividing by
mitosis (as if it were a normal fertilised egg).
The dividing cell (now an embryo) was implanted into the uterus
of a surrogate mother sheep, to develop until it was ready to be

Benefits
of cloning
Benefits
of cloning
continued.
Cloning
allows embryos
you to mass
produce
animals
desirable
- Human
could
be produced
bywith
cloning
adult
characteristics,
cells. Thee.g.
embryos could then be used to supply stem
-

cells for that

stemcan
cellproduce
therapy.medicine
These cells
wouldmilk
have
Animals
in their
could be
exactly
the
same
genetic
info
as
the
patient,
reducing
developed by genetic engineering and then cloned.
the risk of rejection
Researchers
have managed to transfer genes that
produce useful proteins into sheep and cows. This means
the animals can produce
like blood clotting agent
Risks ofthings
cloning
factor VIII (used for treating haemophilia).
There is evidence that cloned animals might not be as
Animals
(like
pigs) ones
that have organs that are suitable for
healthy as
normal
transplantation into humans could be developed by
Cloning engineering
is a new science
and itcloned.
might This
havewould ensure
genetic
and then
consequences
were not
aware of.
constant
supplythat
of organs
for yet
transplant
organs from
human donors are currently in short supply. There are
issues to consider with this type of transplant though
viruses could be passed from the animals to the humans

Cloning humans is a possibility - with a lot of ethical

issues

There would be lots of surrogate pregnancies, probably

with high rates of miscarriage or stillbirth.

Clones of other mammals have been unhealthy and

often die prematurely which means human clones
might too.

Even if a healthy clone was produced, it might be

psychologically damaged by the knowledge that its
just a clone of another human being.

Cloning plants
Gardeners are familiar with taking cuttings from good parent plants
and then planting them to produce genetically identical copies .
Cloning plants is easier than cloning animals, because plant cells
keep their
ability to differentiate animals lose this ability at
an early stage.
Commercial cloning involves tissue culture
First, choose a plant you want based on its characteristic e.g. a
beautiful flower
You remove several of small pieces of tissue from the parent plant.
You get the
best result if you take tissue from fast growing
root and shoot tips
You grow the tissue in a growth medium containing nutrients and
growth
hormones. This is done under aseptic (sterile) conditions
to prevent the growth
of harmful microbes. As tissues produce

Commercial use of cloned plants has pros and cons

You can be fairly sure of the characteristics of the plant
because itll be genetically identical to the parent so
youll only get good ones, and wont waste time or money
for nothing.

Its possible to mass produce plants that are hard to grow

from seeds.
-

But if the plants suffer from a disease or start doing

badly due to a change in environment, theyll have the
same problem, because theyll have the same genes

Also, there's the usual problem with lack of genetic

variation.