A) GMOs are genetically modified organisms, and their use in agriculture is increasing, and becoming harder to distinguish. Genetically modifying plants can make them more durable, as some of the traits they can gain from genetic modification include resistance to: frost, drought, disease, and insects. GMOs are made by placing a gene of interest into a tumor inducing plasmid, adding the plasmid into agro-bacteria through the method of heat shock, and infecting a plant cell with the bacteria. The plant cell will then divide and grow up into a large, healthy plant. Genetically modified organisms can be identified by taking a plant cell, and finding a specific gene sequence located in a tumor inducing plasmid inside of the plant cell. This process is made possible by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), a process which takes small DNA sequences, uses a DNA polymerase, a primer, and nucleotides to accomplish its goal. The controversy behind GMOs is the possibility that they could in fact harm the public. One way is that by making plants stronger, scientists are in fact strengthening the bugs and weeds which feed on plants. For example, weeds that crossbreed with herbicide resistant crops could evolve into super-weeds, and bugs which feed on toxins in plants will no longer be susceptible to such poisons and evolve into super-bugs. Another way is the possibility of allergies or religious conflict that could arise from people unknowingly consuming plants containing proteins from an animal which is not revealed (ex. somebody allergic to fish eating frost resistant tomatoes and becoming deathly sick from the fish protein). GMOs can be a source for good, and could end world hunger and famine, yet the risks and potential dangers must be weighed before any such actions can be taken.
B) In this lab, we will be testing our various favorite foods to identify whether or not they are genetically modified. While doing this we will be policing our own food, and deciding for ourselves whether we really want to eat food which has been altered genetically. This can be applied to the population of the world, and could allow people to make this decision even if the foods are unlabelled.
C) To extract the DNA, we will be heating a hot water bath to 99 degrees Celsius. This should effectively burst the cell membrane. DNASE is a protein developed by Eukaryotic cells to kill DNA outside of the nucleus. To get around this problem, we will add Instagene. Instagene matrix beads are designed to kill DNASE, thus allowing us to perform the experiment. We will use a sequence of interest (from DNA) from the Tumor Inducing plasmid (one that would not occur naturally in the plant) through PCR, to identify if genetic modification has taken place. Special techniques that we will be using include the use of Polymerase Chain Reaction. Our controls of this experiment are the Non-GMO food control with plant primers, Non-GMO food control with GMO primers, the GMO positive control with plant primers, and the GMO positive control DNA with GMO primers. They serve as a comparison for the unknown pieces of vegetable or fruit, and also as an indicator of whether the experiment worked successfully or not. We will be using Gel Electrophoresis in this lab to visually compare the similarities and differences of GMO/Non-GMO foods with the foods that we brought in to experiment with. Depending on the food, we should have accurate results of how much food is genetically modified in our supermarket.
D) In this experiment, the main objective is to see how much of the food is genetically modified. So, the variables of this experiment will be the food we bring in to test (Test food with plant primers, and Test food with GMO Primers). My hypothesis for this experiment is that both plants which we test will be genetically modified. I believe this because, 70% of the food in the united states is genetically modified, and odds are that both will contain some type of modification.
