MadSci Network: Genetics |
Dear Leah, I'm glad to hear you are so interested in genetics, it is certainly a very interesting field and one in which there are still many things to find out. Basically, genetic engineering refers to a wide range of things, including producing large numbers of human proteins etc to treat people with illnesses such as diabetes. Genetic engineering involves putting a foreign gene into a cell so that the cell produces any substances that that gene codes for. So genetic engineering can be used in bacteria, plants and animals ( it is what is used to create genetically modified - GM - crops that you may have heard about) Gene therapy can also be used to treat people with illnesses but in a different way. If scientists find one gene that, when faulty, is responsible for a condition such as cystic fibrosis then they may be able to treat people with that illness by giving them doses of the 'correct' form of that gene. I hope this helps Jo Cocks
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Genetics.