Selective Breeding and Genetic Engineering · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Selecting inherited traits or changing DNA

Science · Genetics & Evolution · ages 15-16
Name ______________________   Date ____________
  1. Why does repeated selective breeding take generations?

    • The selected parents must gradually change their own inherited alleles before breeding.
    • The wanted trait must first become dominant before breeders can assess the offspring.
    • Breeders must breed and assess offspring before selecting the next parents.
  2. Which actions do breeders repeat when selecting for a heritable trait?

    • Select suitable parents, breed them, assess offspring and select again.
    • Select suitable parents, breed them, then keep offspring without assessing the wanted trait.
    • Select suitable parents once, then let later generations breed without further selection.
  3. Why can mating close relatives increase the risk of an autosomal recessive condition in their offspring?

    • A harmful recessive allele becomes dominant when both parents have shared ancestry.
    • They are more likely to share the same harmful recessive allele.
    • An unaffected relative cannot carry the allele, so appearance identifies safe pairings.
  4. Why is selecting unmodified E. coli insufficient to make them produce human insulin?

    • They lack the human insulin-coding DNA that the engineering step supplies.
    • They already carry human insulin-coding DNA, but selecting faster growth leaves it inactive.
    • They already make human insulin, but selection cannot separate it from other bacterial proteins.
  5. Scientists edit an existing maize DNA sequence in a laboratory without adding DNA from another species. Which statement fits?

    • This is selective breeding because the change uses only DNA already present in maize.
    • This is genetic engineering because the DNA is changed directly.
    • This is selective breeding because genetic engineering requires DNA from another species.
  6. Which pair gives a benefit and a concern for Bt maize?

    • Less damage from certain pests; maize pollen could pass the allele to any nearby plant species.
    • Protection from every insect pest; pollen could spread the allele to plants compatible with maize.
    • Less damage from certain pests; pollen could spread the allele to compatible plants.
  7. A herd has been bred from a few close relatives. Tests find a frequent harmful recessive allele. Which plan best targets this allele's risk in future calves while retaining other wanted traits?

    • Use unrelated tested non-carriers and assess their other wanted traits before breeding.
    • Use unrelated animals without allele tests and assess their other wanted traits before breeding.
    • Use only fast, unaffected relatives without allele tests, keeping the herd's current breeding line.
  8. A grower crosses unmodified cultivated wheat with compatible unmodified wild wheat and selects offspring. No DNA is directly edited or inserted in a laboratory. Is this genetic engineering?

    • Yes. Combining DNA from cultivated and wild parents makes any such cross genetic engineering.
    • No. Choosing crosses and offspring is selective breeding.
    • Yes. Selecting a particular inherited trait counts as direct DNA editing even without laboratory work.
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Selecting inherited traits or changing DNA W1-mt_a3zTtiYrR2-s1

  1. Breeders must breed and assess offspring before selecting the next parents. · The repeated cycle needs offspring to be produced and assessed. It does not depend on parents changing their alleles or a trait becoming dominant.
  2. Select suitable parents, breed them, assess offspring and select again. · Selective breeding repeatedly chooses parents and offspring using inherited variation in the wanted trait.
  3. They are more likely to share the same harmful recessive allele. · Close relatives are more likely to share a harmful recessive allele. Receiving a copy from each parent can give offspring the affected genotype.
  4. They lack the human insulin-coding DNA that the engineering step supplies. · The required human insulin-coding sequence is absent from the unmodified bacteria. This is a missing-DNA problem, not an inactive-gene or purification problem.
  5. This is genetic engineering because the DNA is changed directly. · Direct DNA editing is genetic engineering. Adding a gene from a different species is not required.
  6. Less damage from certain pests; pollen could spread the allele to compatible plants. · Bt maize can reduce damage from certain insect pests. Possible gene flow to compatible plants needs assessment in that setting.
  7. Use unrelated tested non-carriers and assess their other wanted traits before breeding. · Unrelatedness alone does not establish non-carrier status, and unaffected relatives may be carriers. Allele tests and assessment of other wanted traits address both aims.
  8. No. Choosing crosses and offspring is selective breeding. · The grower chooses a compatible cross and selects offspring. That is selective breeding rather than direct DNA engineering.
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