Cloning Persuasive Essay

Throughout the time of history, mankind has attempted to make numerous things easier for themselves by controlling the world around them. It all started with the domestication of the animals around 50,000 B.C. After the altering animals, as the humans evolved into an agricultural based society. The humans started breeding different strains of plants hoping to get the best possible plants for food. These practices have continued throughout history, but as scientific understanding of breeding and technology grows, the methods of going about altering plants and animals have changed. Now, rather than breeding two similar types of plants or animals together, engineers and scientists can directly alter the genetic sequence of the DNA of a species.

By taking specific long strands of DNA (genes) and inserting them into other species of cells, it is possible for the new cells carry on useful traits. These new cells that emerge with foreign genes are called transgenic organisms, and are also known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Generally, plants can be genetically modified easily because they can be grown from a single cell or piece of tissue. The process of genetic engineering requires the successful completion of five important steps, each varying in length of time to complete: DNA extraction, gene cloning, gene design, transformation, and backcross breeding

During this step, the selected gene is extracted from an organism. The gene is then cloned thousands of times, so that it can be successfully inserted into cells. Next, the gene is designed to be effective when placed inside a different organism. This step is done by modifying three regions, the promoter, coding region and termination sequence [1]. The promoter region essentially turns the gene “on” and “off” like a light bulb switch and also specifies the number of times a protein will be produced. The coding region is where the important DNA information is stored, and gives off the desired traits. The termination sequence signals the end of the gene so the entire chromosome is not read, which is important because unnecessary genes should not be read.
One type of soil bacterium, called agrobacterium, has the natural ability to transfer DNA into plants, and has thus been called “Nature’s own genetic engineer”. Since agrobacterium usually causes disease, those genes are removed without compromising the gene-transferring ability. Scientists insert special genes into this strain of bacteria, and then place the agrobacterium into a solution with calluses, which are clusters of undifferentiated plant cells. Once in the solution, the agrobacterium work their way into the target calluses, eventually giving rise to a new breed of plant cells