General Article Genetic modification and the environment

Topic Selected: Biotech and Bioethics
This article is 9 years old. Click here to view the latest articles for this topic.

GM terms

DNA - deoxyribonucleic acid

All living cells contain DNA - the organism's blueprint. The DNA molecule carries instructions for making all the structures and materials an organism needs to function, including the information required to instruct which genes are switched on, when, and to what extent.

Genes

Genes are segments of DNA that regulate biological activity. Genes contain the instructions for producing proteins, which make up the structure of cells and direct their activities.

GMO - genetically modified organism

A GMO is an organism that has had its DNA altered for a particular purpose. The GMO could be a virus, bacterium, plant or animal. Usually, a small section of DNA from one organism is introduced into the DNA of another with which it would not normally interbreed.

Indoor (contained) GMOs

GMOs are already used in the UK to produce medicines such as antibiotics, painkillers, vaccines, insulin and growth hormones, and some foods that ...

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