Biotechnology Flashcard

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What is selective breeding?

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Selective breeding is the process by which farmers choose specific plants or animals with desirable traits to reproduce, enhancing those traits in future generations.

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What is a plasmid?

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A plasmid is a small, circular piece of DNA found in bacteria that can replicate independently of chromosomal DNA.

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What is recombinant DNA?

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Recombinant DNA is DNA that has been formed artificially by combining constituents from different organisms, typically involving the splicing of genes.

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What is a GMO?

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A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques, such as Bt Corn.

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What is cloning?

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Cloning is a method of producing a genetically identical copy of an organism from a single cell.

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What is natural selection?

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Natural selection is the process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

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What is genetic engineering?

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Genetic engineering is the direct manipulation of an organism's genes using biotechnology to alter its characteristics.

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What is hybridization?

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Hybridization is the process of crossing two different species or varieties to produce a hybrid with traits from both.

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What is a codon?

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A codon is a sequence of three nucleotides in DNA or RNA that corresponds to a specific amino acid or stop signal during protein synthesis.

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What is a ribosome?

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A ribosome is a molecular machine found within all living cells that serves as the site of protein synthesis.