Course Description:

Welcome to our Biology Cambridge IGCSE course, meticulously tailored to help you conquer the intricacies of Topic 21: Biotechnology and Genetic Modification. This comprehensive course is specifically designed for both Code 0610 and Code 0970 syllabi, ensuring you’re well-prepared for the IGCSE Biology examination.

Course Highlights:

• Comprehensive Core and Supplement Objectives: Master all core and supplement objectives as outlined in the syllabus for theory (papers 1, 2, 3, 4). These objectives provide a solid foundation for exam success.
• Thoroughly Explained Experiments: Gain a deep understanding of practical experiments with detailed explanations. Notes summarize the method, results, interpretation, evaluation, reliability, and conclusion, enabling you to excel in paper 6 questions.

Course Outline & Objectives (Core and Supplement):

1. Biotechnology and Genetic Modification (Lesson 1): Key objectives include:

• State that bacteria are useful in biotechnology and genetic modification due to their rapid reproduction rate and their ability to make complex molecules.
• Discuss why bacteria are useful in biotechnology and genetic modification, limited to (a) few ethical concerns over their manipulation and growth (b) the presence of plasmids.

2. Biotechnology (Lesson 2): Key objectives include:

• Describe the role of anaerobic respiration in yeast during the production of ethanol for biofuels.
• Describe the role of anaerobic respiration in yeast during bread-making.
• Describe the use of pectinase in fruit juice production.
• Explain the use of lactase to produce lactose-free milk.
• Describe how fermenters can be used for the large-scale production of useful products by bacteria and fungi, including insulin, penicillin, and mycoprotein.
• Describe and explain the conditions that need to be controlled in a fermenter, including temperature, pH, oxygen, nutrient supply, and waste products.

3. Genetic Modification (Lesson 3): Key objectives include:

• Describe genetic modification as changing the genetic material of an organism by removing, changing, or inserting individual genes.
• Outline examples of genetic modification: (a) the insertion of human genes into bacteria to produce human proteins (b) the insertion of genes into crop plants to confer resistance to herbicides (c) the insertion of genes into crop plants to confer resistance to insect pests (d) the insertion of genes into crop plants to improve nutritional qualities.
• Outline the process of genetic modification using bacterial production of a human protein as an example, limited to (a) isolation of the DNA making up a human gene using restriction enzymes, forming sticky ends (b) cutting of bacterial plasmid DNA with the same restriction enzymes, forming complementary sticky ends (c) insertion of human DNA into bacterial plasmid DNA using DNA ligase to form a recombinant plasmid (d) insertion of recombinant plasmids into bacteria (specific details are not required) (e) multiplication of bacteria containing recombinant plasmids (f) expression in bacteria of the human gene to make the human protein
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of genetically modifying crops, including soya, maize, and rice.

4. Experiment – Investigating the Use of Biological Washing Powders (Lesson 4): Key objectives include:

• To investigate the use of biological washing powder compared to nonbiological washing powder.