Edexcel IGCSE Section 5 Notes PDF

Edexcel IGCSE Revision notes Written by Tim Filtness
Deforestation:
Cutting down trees and not replacing them is bad. It causes;
- Leaching of soil minerals

- Soil erosion (no roots holding soil together)
- Desertion (new deserts forming)
- Disturbance of the water cycle (less transpiration can lead to
flooding and / or drought)
- Increase in CO2 levels
- Decrease in O2 production
Over-fishing and over-grazing can cause food chains to collapse.
Section 5:
5: The use of Biological resources
a) Food production
Food Production using Crop plants:
Greenhouses and polythene tunnels raise the temperature (by the

greenhouse effect… guess why it’s called that), which increases the
rate of photosynthesis, which increases crop yield
Yield - The total mass of the edible part of crop
If the level of CO2 in the greenhouse is increased the yield will

further increase (remember, CO2 is a limiting factor in p/s)
If fertilizers are added (specifically those that contain Potasium,

Nitrate and Phosphate– KNP fertilisers) then the yield will increase
even more!
Potassium – essential for plant membranes
Nitrate – essential for making plant proteins
Phosphate – essential for DNA and membranes
60
Pest Control can also be used to increase Yield. This can be done
either using pesticides or biological controls.
Pesticide – a chemical that kills pests (anything that eats your

crop), but does not harm the crop plant
Biological control – introducing a biological organism which will eat

the pest, but not the crop plant (e.g. birds are sometimes
encouraged inside greenhouses because they eat caterpillars)
Food Production using Microorganisms:
Yeast:
Remember that yeast are capable of respiring aerobically

(producing CO2 and water) and anaerobically (producing CO2 and
ethanol). Yeast are therefore used in the brewing industry.
In order to make beer barley seeds are allowed to germinate by

soaking the barley seeds in warm water. This is called malting. The
germinating barley seeds break down their carbohydrate stores,
releasing sugar. After a couple of days the barley seeds are gently
roasted (which kills them) and put into a fermenter with yeast. The
yeast use the sugar for anaerobic respiration and produce beer.
You need to know an experiment that shows the production of CO2

by yeast, in different conditions. The best example is to mix a yeast
suspension with a sucrose solution and place in a boiling tube with a
delivery tube attached. Any CO2 produced can be collected over
water or bubbled through lime water.
Lactobacillus:
Lactobacillus bacterium is This bacterium is used to turn milk into

yoghurt. It uses lactose sugar in the milk to produce lactic acid by
anaerobic respiration. The lactic acid affects the milk proteins,
making the yoghurt curdle (go solid) and giving it the characteristic
tart taste.
61
A Fermenter:
Important details:
Cooling jacket – keeps the microorganisms at optimum temperature.

They will produce lots of heat through respiration, therefore need
to be cooled!
Paddles – keep stirring the mixture. This stops waste products from
building up and keeps the air evenly mixed
Nutrient medium – supplies the microorganisms with fuel for

respiration
Sterile Air supply – supplies clean O2 for respiration (note: this is

not required in anaerobic fermentation processes)
Data-logger – monitors temperature and pH, keeps the fermenter

at optimum conditions
You don’t need to be able to draw this out, but you could be
asked to label a diagram of a fermenter or be asked to explain
the function of the various parts of a fermenter.
62
Food Production using Fish Farming:
Fish are farmed in fish farms because they are a good source of
protein. Fish farms keep lots of fish in very small tanks to minimize
space requirements. To stop the fish fighting with each other these
precautions are taken;
- Different fish species are kept in separate tanks. This stops

competition between species of fish (intraspecific competition)
- Fish of different genders are kept separately (unless they are

being bred)
- Fish of different ages are kept separately. This stops

competition between fish of the same species (interspecific
competition)
As with the fermentation, the quality of the water is closely

monitored and the fish are continuously supplied with fresh sterile
water so that wastes are washed out constantly. The fish are kept
in sterile water to limit disease, which would spread very quickly in
the cramped ponds.
The fish are often over-fed, or fed with protein-rich food.

Sometimes hormones are added to the water to speed growth. In
addition to this only the biggest and most healthy fish are allowed
to breed. This is an example of selective breeding.
b) Selective Breeding
Selective Breeding – individuals with desired characteristics are

bred together to produce offspring which express both desired
characteristics.
Examples of this are: increased yield and reduction of stem length

in wheat and increased yield of meat and milk in cattle.
63
c) Genetic Modification (Genetic engineering)
The structure of DNA:
DNA is a double-stranded molecule. The strands coil up to form a

double-helix. The strands are linked by a series of paired bases.
Thymine (T) pairs with Adenine (A)

Guanine (G) pairs with Cytosine (C)
The bases are a crucial part of DNA. The sequence of bases is what
created the genetic code!
Process of genetic engineering:
The example you need to know is the creation of E coli bacteria

that makes human insulin.
However, a more fun example is Alba, the

glow-in-the-dark bunny that makes the
protein luminol (taken from a jellyfish!)
64
1. Extract target gene (human insulin gene) from donor cell. This
is done by cutting the gene out of human DNA using a
restriction enzyme
2. Cut open the bacterial DNA, also using the restriction enzyme
3. Insert the gene and “stitch the DNA together” using DNA
Ligase enzyme
4. Get the new DNA into the bacterium. This is done using a
vector
Common vectors include Viruses and Plasmids
Now your transgenic bacterium is complete. All you need to do

is grow it in a fermenter and it makes lots of insulin for you!
Transgenic Organism – Organism containing DNA from two or more

sources (i.e. an organism that’s been genetically engineered to
express a foreign gene)
Scientists are experimenting with genetic engineering all the time.

Plants are good to genetically engineer because they are more
simple and there are fewer ethical issues.
Genetically modified (GM) crops are engineered to;
- Have bigger yields

- Be frost resistant (e.g. frost resistant strawberries)
- Have resistance to disease
- Grow in harsher environments (e.g. drought-resistant rice)
- Have vitamins in them that they would not normally have (e.g.
golden corn)
- Have a longer sell-by date (e.g. non-squash tomatoes)
- Be a different colour / taste to normal (e.g. chocolate carrots)
- Have stronger taste (e.g. chilis)
- Be easier to eat (e.g. easy-peel oranges)
65
d) Cloning
Cloning is used to make many copies of a single individual. Usually

the individual has a very desirable phenotype and has often been
produced at the end of a selective breeding or GE programme.
Cloning in plants:
The easiest way to clone a plant is to take a cutting or a graft (see

earlier). However, micropropagation (tissue culture) can be used in
large-scale cloning programmes.
Micropropagation - small pieces of plants (explants) are grown in a

Petri dish on nutrient medium. Samples of the culture can be taken
off and grown separately. If the right hormones are added the
culture will turn into a miniature plant (a plantlet). This can be done
on a huge scale to produce 1000s of plantlets from a single culture.
Cloning in animals:
1. Take an embryonic cell

2. Remove it’s nucleus (enucleate it)
3. Replace with the nucleus from an adult cell (from the animal
you want to clone)
4. The embryonic cell grows into an embryo clone of the adult,
from which the donor nucleus came
This process was used to create Dolly the sheep
Cloning can be used beneficially in agriculture to increase the yield

of crop plants. However, cloning genetically engineered animals
organisms allows us to mass-produce very useful organisms e.g. the
E. coli bacterium that makes human insulin has been cloned many
times. Now all diabetics have access to human insulin.
The END!
66

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How can crop yield be increased?

How can crop yield be increased?

What are some methods of food production using microorganisms?

What are some methods of food production using microorganisms?

Edexcel IGCSE Revision notes Written by Tim Filtness

Cutting down trees and not replacing them is bad. It causes;

- Leaching of soil minerals

Over-fishing and over-grazing can cause food chains to collapse.

Food Production using Crop plants:

Greenhouses and polythene tunnels raise the temperature (by the

Yield - The total mass of the edible part of crop

If the level of CO2 in the greenhouse is increased the yield will

If fertilizers are added (specifically those that contain Potasium,

Potassium – essential for plant membranes

Nitrate – essential for making plant proteins

Phosphate – essential for DNA and membranes

Pesticide – a chemical that kills pests (anything that eats your

Biological control – introducing a biological organism which will eat

Food Production using Microorganisms:

Remember that yeast are capable of respiring aerobically

In order to make beer barley seeds are allowed to germinate by

You need to know an experiment that shows the production of CO2

Lactobacillus bacterium is This bacterium is used to turn milk into

Cooling jacket – keeps the microorganisms at optimum temperature.

Nutrient medium – supplies the microorganisms with fuel for

Sterile Air supply – supplies clean O2 for respiration (note: this is

Data-logger – monitors temperature and pH, keeps the fermenter

Food Production using Fish Farming:

- Different fish species are kept in separate tanks. This stops

- Fish of different genders are kept separately (unless they are

- Fish of different ages are kept separately. This stops

As with the fermentation, the quality of the water is closely

The fish are often over-fed, or fed with protein-rich food.

Selective Breeding – individuals with desired characteristics are

Examples of this are: increased yield and reduction of stem length

c) Genetic Modification (Genetic engineering)

The structure of DNA:

DNA is a double-stranded molecule. The strands coil up to form a

Thymine (T) pairs with Adenine (A)

Process of genetic engineering:

The example you need to know is the creation of E coli bacteria

However, a more fun example is Alba, the

Common vectors include Viruses and Plasmids

Now your transgenic bacterium is complete. All you need to do

Transgenic Organism – Organism containing DNA from two or more

Scientists are experimenting with genetic engineering all the time.

Genetically modified (GM) crops are engineered to;

- Have bigger yields

Cloning is used to make many copies of a single individual. Usually

The easiest way to clone a plant is to take a cutting or a graft (see

Micropropagation - small pieces of plants (explants) are grown in a

1. Take an embryonic cell

This process was used to create Dolly the sheep

Cloning can be used beneficially in agriculture to increase the yield

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