CHALLENGE QUESTIONS

Section 14.4

Question 29

29.Suppose that you are hired by a biotechnology firm to produce a strain of giant fruit flies by using recombinant DNA technology so that genetics students will not be forced to strain their eyes when looking at tiny flies. You go to the library and learn that growth in fruit flies is normally inhibited by a hormone called shorty substance P (SSP). You decide that you can produce giant fruit flies if you can somehow turn off the production of SSP. Shorty substance P is synthesized from a compound called XSP in a single-step reaction catalyzed by the enzyme runtase:

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A researcher has already isolated cDNA for runtase and has sequenced it, but the location of the runtase gene in the Drosophila genome is unknown. In attempting to devise a strategy for turning off the production of SSP and producing giant flies by using standard recombinant DNA techniques, you discover that deleting, inactivating, or otherwise mutating this DNA sequence in Drosophila turns out to be extremely difficult. Therefore, you must restrict your genetic engineering to gene augmentation (adding new genes to cells). Describe the methods that you will use to turn off SSP and produce giant flies by using recombinant DNA technology.

Section 14.5

Question 30

30.Much of the controversy over genetically engineered foods has centered on whether special labeling should be required on all products made from genetically modified crops. Some people have advocated labeling that identifies the product as having been made from genetically modified plants. Others have argued that labeling should be required only to identify the ingredients, not the process by which they were produced. Choose a side in this issue and justify your stand.