Genetic Engineering
Use of Biological Resources · 6 question types
Exam Frequency Analysis
Past paper frequency (2018 to 2024)
This topic accounts for approximately 10% of your exam marks.
Insulin production by bacteria and GM crops are growing in exam frequency.
This is the last topic in the biology syllabus. Bringing together everything from topics 12, 17 and 18, modern biotechnology offers a toolkit of techniques for producing useful plants, animals and proteins:
| Technique | What it produces | Speed | Genetic variation in result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selective breeding | New breed/variety with desired traits | Slow (many generations) | Some (mix of parents' alleles) |
| Cuttings (topic 12) | Identical plants from a single parent | Fast | None (clones) |
| Tissue culture / micropropagation (topic 17) | Many identical plant clones from one parent | Very fast | None (clones) |
| Genetic engineering | Organism with a specific new trait | Fast (at lab stage) | None (precise control) |
| Cloning animals | Genetically identical animal copies | Slow (per individual), but each is a clone | None (clones) |
| Industrial fermentation | Large quantities of microbial product (e.g. yoghurt, insulin) | Fast | Population grown from one strain |
Each technique has its place. Together, they have completely transformed how humans produce food, medicines and industrial materials, and they continue to develop rapidly. The biggest challenges going forward are not really technical but ethical, regulatory and social: how to deploy these powerful tools wisely, equitably, and with appropriate caution.