Biotechnology

Technology has changed the modern farm. Growers choose from many seed varieties with selectively bred and genetically modified traits. Students will figure out how genetic modifications have come to be and the impacts they have.

Storyline

Phenomenon

How are advanced biotech skills applied to food and food production? These lessons allow students to develop skills and investigate methods for research on issues related to food production.

Pipetting skills

How can we develop and practice micropipetting skills? Why is micropipetting important?

What do students do? Students create patterns using micropipetters and assess their accuracy by checking their results through mass.

What do students figure out? Accuracy is important when measuring small amounts.

HS-LS1-1, HS-LS3-1

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Plant cloning

How might we create a sterile growing environment? How important is a sterile environment? How is a plant clone produced?

What do students do? Students practice plant tissue culturing in sterile environments.

What do students figure out? How can we maintain a sterile environment and prevent contamination of results?

HS-LS1-4

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Protein purification for GFP

How can proteins be purified? What is the mechanism used in biotechnology to extract proteins of interest?

What do students do? Students extract protein from bacteria they created in the previous lab (from Bio-Rad pGLO™ Lab.)

What do students figure out? Proteins of interest can be extracted.

HS-ETS1-2

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Using PCR to diagnose threats to food supplies

What are some threats to food supplies? How might we diagnose threats from pathogens in soil?

What do students do? Students extract DNA from soil or plant tissue samples, then amplify the material found, and run a gel to determine the threat.

What do students figure out? Different threats require different methods of control. Once a threat is identified, a strategy for protecting food supplies can be implemented.

HS PS1-4, HS PS1-6, LS 2-1

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What’s lurking in the soil?

How do researchers determine the identity of organisms from pieces of DNA?

What do students do? Students use the NCBI database, a digital database, to identify a sequence of DNA to identify an organism.

What do students figure out? Digital databases make identification of organisms less labor intensive and more accurate.

HS-PS4-2

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Teacher background

Genetic modification, or the creation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), is not a new concept. People have been genetically modifying plants and animals since before written history. Corn started out as a grass plant with very small seeds. Now the plant is over 7 feet tall and grows large ears with hundreds of kernels. Soybeans have been selectively bred to allow for growth from North Dakota to Alabama and to become more productive with 50 to 100 seed pods per plant. A more familiar example is the incredible variety of dog breeds that are all the same species (can interbreed) but have such different sizes, colors, and fur types. Think of a poodle and a schnauzer! All of these breeds resulted from selective breeding of the same species.

We still practice selective breeding today, and describe the resulting offspring from these crosses as hybrids. The purpose of any genetic modification in crops is to protect the yield of the plant from pests, diseases or other stresses in the environment (flooding, drought, etc). As technology has improved, genetic engineering can now be achieved through the movement of specific genetic material from one organism to another, resulting in what many call GMOs. The techniques of genetic engineering include isolating desirable genetic traits from one organism and inserting one or more of these traits into a different organism. This allows for a variety of combinations that can be tailored for specific environmental conditions. Most crop GMOs are a combination of selective breeding (creating hybrids), genetic engineering (inserting specific traits from other organisms), and other techniques (i.e.seed chipping). In 2020, genetically engineered crops were grown on about 96% of planted acres in the United States.

CRISPR is being used to knock out genes that result in undesirable characteristics and does not involve introducing DNA from different organisms. Many favorable traits are being enhanced through the use of CRISPR in soybeans, corn and other food crops.

Within the United States, nearly 80% of all foods sold contain some GMOs. A new bioengineered label regulated by the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard passed in 2018, and will begin to appear on packaged foods as of January 1, 2022. However, tests by the USDA, EPA, and FDA have determined that the products that result from genetically engineered crops are not significantly different than foods that use other selective breeding techniques. Different countries have different rules that regulate the sale and trade of patented GMO seeds and the foods that contain these crops.

The benefits of biotech crops are many and include: more affordable food, better livelihoods from higher yields, lower pesticide use, land-saving technology, reduction of food waste and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. (See isaaa.org for more details.)

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Next Generation Science Standards

Science and Engineering Practices

  • Constructing explanations and designing solutions
  • Asking questions and defining problems
  • Developing and using models
  • Analyzing and interpreting data
  • Engaging in argument from evidence

Disciplinary Core Ideas

  • LS1.A Structure and Function
  • ESS3.C Human impacts on Earth’s systems
  • ETS1.B Developing possible solutions
  • LS3.A Inheritance of traits
  • LS1.B Growth and development of organisms
  • LS3.B Variation of traits
  • ETS1.C Optimizing the design solution

Cross Cutting Concepts

  • Structure and function
  • Stability and change
  • Cause and effect
  • Systems and system models
  • Scale proportion and quantity