Week 14

ACTIVITY NO.1
WATCH and LEARN! Watch the following videos by accessing the provided links. Answer the
succeeding questions
Guide Questions:
1. What was the oldest form of genetic engineering?
It’s selective breeding. Selective breeding is the process by which humans breed other
animals and plants for particular traits.
2. What are the reasons why GMOs are created?
It’s Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO. GMO had a DNA artificially modified by
human using modern genetic manipulation techniques by changing the DNA. The reason
why GMO are created is to grow more food at a faster rate, to try and feed the thousands of
starving and malnourished people all around the world. It was perceived to help in the
advancement of technology for the benefit of humans in different industries like agriculture
and medicine.
3. Based on the video, how does genetic modification happen?
There are 3 things said in the video it’s the ff:
1. Introduce new DNA into a genome using modified bacteria.
2. Introducing new DNA by gene targeting and homologous recombination.
3. Changing regions of a genome using enzyme to cut out specific parts of the DNA.

4. How is the insulin gene propagated based on the video?

The video use human insulin gene as an example. In the video the first step is to cut the
gene for human insulin for a human cell using an enzyme, then use the same enzyme to cut
the circular bacterial plasmid open and stick the insulin gene and the plasmid together. Then
put the modified plasmid back into a bacterial cell and wait but not for too long as bacterial
cells divide roughly once every 30 minutes and a little while later. millions of bacteria
producing the human insulin protein and excreting it the human insulin is filtered out and
purified and can then be used by people with diabetes
5. How is spider silk (protein) propagated based on the video?
The spider goat is one of the example of modified organism given in the video. The goat
has the spider silk gene inserting into their DNA so when female goats lactate reduced breast
milk the milk contains spider silk the spider silk is pretty incredible it's as strong as steel but
so light their strand long enough to circle the earth would weigh less than 500 grams so there
are thousands of uses.
6. What are the other uses of GMO that were mentioned in the video?
The other uses of GMO are that to discover more solution in some medical problems
such as treating cancer, spinal cord injuries and HIV. It is use to make a research in the
animals that can provide a medical purpose.
Guide Questions:
1. What are the advantages of gene therapy as mentioned in the video?
1. Gene silencing is a concept that in itself is self-efficient for management of many dis-
eases.
2. Gene therapy has the potential to eliminate and prevent hereditary diseases, such as
cystic fibrosis, and is a possible cure for heart disease, AIDS and cancer.
3. Gives an advantage to a person born with genetic disorder to live life in a normal way
by replacing non-functional gene with a functional one.
2. What is the importance of engineered virus in Gene Therapy?
One of the most promising uses of genetically engineered viruses is gene therapy for
the treatment of many genetic diseases. In gene therapy, DNA or RNA can be directed and
delivered to specific cells that contain “functional genes”, in addition to being able to
inactivate mutated genes.
3. What is achromatopsia, how does gene therapy address this genetic disorder?
Achromatopsia is a condition characterized by a partial or total absence of color
vision. It’s a disorder of the retina, which is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the
eye. The retina contains two types of light receptor cells, called rods and cones. These
cells transmit visual signals from the eye to the brain through a process called
phototransduction.
Guide Questions:
1. What is the use of radiation why plants were exposed to it during 1960’s?
In the 1960's, scientist bombarded plants with radiation to cause random mutations
in the genetic code. The idea was to get a useful plant variation by pure chance.
2. What is FLAVRSAVR tomato, why is it invented?
A FLAVRSAVR tomato or “Flavor Saver” is a genetically modified tomato. It was the
first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be granted a license for human
consumption. A tomato given a much longer shelf life where an extra gene that
suppresses the build-up of a rotting enzyme.
3. What is CRISPR? What is CRISPR-cas9?
CRISPR is short for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat.” It’s a
bit of DNA that scientists first noticed in the immune system of bacteria. The CRISPR-
cas9 is CRISPR associated protein 9. It able to achieve highly flexible and specific
targeting, the CRISPR-Cas9 system can be modified and redirected to become a
powerful tool for genome editing in broad applications such as stem cell engineering,
gene therapy, tissue and animal disease models, and engineering disease-resistant
transgenic plants.
4. What is the role CRISPR technology in the body of mouse with 99% Human
Immunodeficiency Virus on its cells?
 Scientists use CRISPR to cut the HIV virus out of living cells from patients in the lab,
proving that it was possible. Only about a year later, they carried out a larger scale
project with rats that had the HIV virus in basically all of their body cells. By simply
injecting CRISPR into the rats tails, they were able to remove more than 50 % of the
virus from cells all over the body.
5. What is the potential use of CRISPR-cas9 technology in detecting cancer cells?
CRISPR could also defeat one of our worst enemies—cancer. Cancer occurs when
cells refuse to die and keep multiplying while concealing themselves from the immune
system. CRISPR gives us the means to edit your immune cells and make them better
cancer hunters. Getting rid of cancer might eventually mean getting just a couple of
injections of a few thousand of your own cells that have been engineered in the lab to
heal you for good.
6. How does CRISPR-cas9 technology would help to alleviate the effects of many genetic
disorders?

CRISPR‐Cas9 technology can be used to remove and correct genes or mutations,

and to introduce site‐specific therapeutic genes in human cells. Inherited
haematological disorders represent ideal targets for CRISPR‐Cas9‐
mediated gene therapy. Correcting disease‐causing mutations could alleviate disease‐
related symptoms in the near future.
7. Why are CRISPR-cas9 babies described as perfect babies?
Because it designs to make things right or to provide something needed in a
particular thing. Like the computer it seems not perfect at all at first but eventually it
makes some development that has a good features and can use in a lot of things. The
CRISPR-cas9 can also make a baby be perfect and the Modified humans could alter the
genome of our entire species, because their engineered traits will be passed on to their
children and could spread over generations, slowly modifying the whole gene pool of
humanity.
8. How does CRISPR-cas9 seem to help human aging?
Two-thirds of the 150,000 people who died today will die of age-related causes.
Aging is caused by the accumulation of damage to our cells, like DNA breaks and the
systems responsible for fixing those wearing off over time. But there are also genes that
directly affect aging. A combination of genetic engineering and other therapy could stop
or slow down aging, maybe even reverse it. We know from nature that there are animals
immune to aging. CRISPR-cas9 can help by borrowing few genes to stop or prevent the
aging of humans. Some scientists even think biological aging could be something that
eventually just stops being a thing. We would still die at some point, but instead of doing
so in hospitals at age 90, we might be able to spend a few thousand years with our loved
ones.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
1. How would you reconcile the advantages and disadvantages that GMOs bring to
humans?
The advantage of having a GMO is that it can predict where we can get a food aside
for some of our common food source, it can also improve the nutrients we can get in the
food we are eating, it can also genetically modified foods make it possible to extend food
life by enhancing the natural qualities of the food itself, we can receive medical benefits
to GMO crops and etc. The GMO also have disadvantage such as GMO crops may
cause antibiotic resistance, Farmers growing genetically modified foods have a greater
legal liability, and Some genetically modified foods may present a carcinogen exposure
risk.
2. When do you think should the pursuit of GMOs research stop?
I think the pursuit of GMOs research should not be stop and should be continuous
because, GMO has really lot of benefits to human as well as the development in
agricultural and farming industries, and the only disadvantage to this is the uncertainty of
its long term effects to the human and environment.
3. Is genetic engineering a pure scientific process or it is indeed an act of humans playing
like God?
It’s a technological process for changing the DNA program in a cell, based on
knowledge gained through the application of the scientific method. There is no magic
involved or indeed miracles, so I guess it’s not playing God since to do that you’d have
to be doing “miracles”.
God can create everything as fast as how the light travel. Human gives a knowledge to
make our own life, if having that kind of knowledge how come can a human playing like
God who is the one that created as though? So for me it is just pure scientific process of
human to make a living.

ACTIVITY NO.2
WATCH and LEARN! Watch the film Splice (2009) and answer the following questions critically.
Guide Question:
1. What is the ultimate goal of why “Dren” was designed and created?
Dren is designed and create by Clive Nicoli and Elsa Kast, a scientist to form new
genetic beings and find medical benefits to mankind.
2. What are the organisms that serve as the source of genes that are incorporated into the
ovum where “Dren” hybridized?
 They have just created the hybrid Ginger and Fred (the first experiment they had
that has a DNA of different animals) and now they intend to join together human DNA to
alter the genetic structure of their experiment.
3. What are the physical changes (developmental stages) in “Dren” and how it affects
her/his behaviors (learning, social relationships, etc)?
Dren begins to grow and learn at an accelerated rate. She became amphibious and
omnivorous with a toxic sting and retractable wings coming out of parts of her arm and
back. She also shows a violent behavior as she gets develop to the point that she kills
the cat and almost kill Elsa too. Because of that Elsa change her mind in keeping Dren.
And when she reaches adulthood, the sex drive of Dren is activated and Clive and Elsa
learn that they have a serious problem to resolve.
4. What is post-sequential hermaphroditism? What organism(s) do(es) this process
commonly occur?
_________________________ _________________________
5. Do you think “Dren” belongs to the human species? Explain your answer.
I think Dren is not belongs to the human species even though she has a DNA of
human and she look like a human at some part of her but not the way she acts. I think
she belong to the animal’s species because of the uncontrolled behavior she was and
the way she reacts in some of the thinks is like how the animals act.

6. Based on your inference, describe the offspring of “Dren” to Elsa. Justify your answer.
STUDENT’S REFLECTION

1. In your own opinion, how can genetically modified products help to promote the UN
Sustainable Development Goals?
The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and
more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face,
including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and
justice. Genetically modified product help to promote UN Sustainable Development
Goal by creating a product that is related to its goals such as waste less food and
support farmers, responsible consumption and production, life on land, climate action
and so on.

2. How can gene therapy provide solutions to those people who have genetic disorder
and/or diseases?
Gene therapy is a technique to replace the faulty or missing gene with a
healthy copy of the same gene. There are a couple of ways to perform this
procedure but most of them are in the infancy phase. For now, gene therapy can be
healing but is not considered a proper cure so far and thus needs more research
work, especially to distinguish long-term side effects.
3. Would you subject for gene therapy without its 100% assurance of effectiveness or
future negative side effects?

No, because some of the gene therapy only accrued to the animals first
because not all the research is expectedly good for human and some of it may affect
to human’s body negatively so that I don’t risk my life in some things that may
endanger my life.

4. Should gene therapy be limited to medical concerns only or could it be used for
aesthetic purposes?
I think it should be used for anything for which it has a purpose! Of course, life-
saving is the most profound and gene therapy's greatest achievement. And if
someone's life is going to be better, if their confidence in themselves are gained
through looking better, there is not a thing wrong with that. It's not frivolous, silly or
vain at all.