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Summary: The Controversy Of Genetically Modified Organisms

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The Controversy of Genetically Modified Organisms
Genetic engineering is an asset to mankind and scientific technology that continues to be unabated to the present. Genetic engineering is the process of putting additional DNA in an organism for a specific purpose. This is done by physically removing a gene from one organism and inserting it into another, giving it the ability to express the trait encoded by that gene (Goldbas). The first successful genetically modified organism was completed by Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer in 1973. Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer developed recombinant DNA technology that revealed genetically engineered DNA molecules can be cloned in foreign cells. Their experiment displayed that the gene for frog ribosomal …show more content…
Genetic engineering permits a limitless scope of modification and introduction of otherwise foreign genetic material to any species. Gene cloning, also known as DNA cloning, is a very different process from reproductive and therapeutic cloning. Cloning is done by extracting a specific gene from an organism and inserting it into a vector, which is then put into certain conditions to prompt the gene to multiply. Vectors can range from bacteria to viruses to yeast cells (National Human Genome Research Institution). DNA cloning is the starting point of many genetic engineering approaches to biotechnology research. For example, cloning animal models of disease can be used to study the gene that the animal carries causing mutations. By duplicating these transgenic animals, much time is saved in the trial-and-error process of learning about human disease through animals such as mice. Another advancement DNA cloning could trigger is cloning stem cells genetically identical to an individual to build, maintain, and repair the body more rapidly. This could activate the chance to grow whole organs to be used for medical purposes, alongside cloning the stem cells of someone with a disease for

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