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MID-TERM TAKE HOME EXAM BI/FS 430(H)/530 Fall 2005

_______/100 points

DEFINITIONS (1 pt each)
Briefly define the following (~5-10 words)

1. Genome

2. Gene

3. Gene cloning

4. PCR

5. Reporter gene

6. Domestication

SHORT ANSWER (2-10 pts each)

7. Why are 70% of foods in US supermarkets considered to be genetically modified (engineered) yet only a
very few species of transgenic crops are authorized for commercial use? (2 pts)

8. What are two differences between classical breeding and genetic engineering? (2 pts)

9. What are the three traits of commercially available GE crops today? (3 pts)
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10. In the article GM Foods - Breeding Uncertainty in the Environmental Health Perspectives magazine by
Charles Schmidt describe two reasons for the uncertainty of GM foods. How does this compare to traditional
breeding? (4 pts)

11. What are promoters and why are they important in genetic engineering? Give one example of a promoter
used in plant biotechnology? (2 pts)

12. Give an example of how genomics, combined with GMO methods, could be used to produce a new kind of
GMO crop. (2 pts)

13. Why do genetic engineers consider it very important, for the purposes of producing a commercial transgenic
crop, to examine progeny that were produced after inserting the same gene many different times? (2 pts)

14. Why is the insertion of genes into the cholorplast genome considered a containment technology? (2 pts)

15. Given that you have a genetically engineered Agrobacterium strain to start with, describe four steps, and
their purposes, that are generally employed in producing a transgenic plant ready for testing in the field. (4 pts)
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16. Why is Agrobacterium considered a natural plant genetic engineer. Discuss how its genes related to gene
transfer are organized, how this allows it to survive in the environment, and how plant biotechnologists have
modified it to transfer genes of interest to agriculture. (10 pts)

17. What is golden rice, and what is the main reason for creating it? What is its status with regard to
commercial development? What are the two concerns of those opposed to it? (4 pts)

18. Why are genetic resources important for crop breeding? (2 pts)

19. Considering animal or plant domestication, what are four kinds of traits that were consciously or
unconsciously selected during early stages in domestication? (4 pts)
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20. Describe two positive and two negative consequences of plant domestication and breeding. (4 pts)

21. In GM Crops: The Global and Economic and Environmental Impact - The First 9 Years what are the main
economic and environmental benefits claimed from nearly a decade of use of GM crops? Why does the article
claim that GM crops have helped to reduced greenhouse gas emissions important to global climate change?
What is an example of an environmental effect that was not considered? (4 pts)