Why farmers and scientists turn to genetically modified crops, and what they have gained. How the toxin of a soil bacterium protects cotton from its bollworms, and how a plant can silence the genes of a root worm with RNA interference. It covers the unit of the Indian syllabus (NCERT, NEET) and the matching topic of A-Level, IB and AP.
3 lessons, about 1 h 15 min3 simulations10 problems3 practice questionsPython in every lesson
The green revolution tripled the food supply, but it was not enough, and it relied on costly chemicals. This lesson sets out the three ways to grow more food, explains what a genetically modified organism is, and lists the gains that genetic modification has given to crops.
A soil bacterium makes a protein that kills certain insects. Its gene was cloned and put into cotton, so the plant makes its own insecticide. This lesson follows the gene into the plant and the toxin into the insect, and lists the cry genes and the pests that each one controls.
Cells have a defence that switches off a gene by pairing its messenger RNA with a matching RNA. Scientists used this to protect tobacco from a root worm. This lesson explains RNA interference and the experiment, and counts the base pairs and bonds in the double stranded RNA.
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