Unit 2 - Science for the Needs of Society: Section 11.3

Selective breeding and genetic engineering

Agricultural scientists have developed new methods of producing plants and animals with favourable characteristics. Both crops and livestock have been bred so that they produce more food or are more economical to harvest.

You need to be able to;

• Explain that selective breeding involves selecting the parents with desired traits, crossing them, selecting from their offspring, and then repeating the process over several generations
• Explain that genetic engineering involves the transfer of ‘Foreign’ genes into the cells of animals or plants at an early stage in their development so that they develop with desired characteristics.

You should be able to assess the applications and implications of science when:

• Making informed judgements about the economic, social and ethical issues concerning cloning and genetic engineering and suggest possible long-term evolutionary problems, e.g. seedless fruits