Many farmers now grow insect-resistant varieties of cotton. The gene for the favorable trait, in this case, insect resistance, is transferred to the cotton's DNA using
A)
viral vectors.
B)
tissue culture.
C)
bacterial plasmids.
D)
in vitro fertilization.

Question

Many farmers now grow insect-resistant varieties of cotton. The gene for the favorable trait, in this case, insect resistance, is transferred to the cotton's DNA using
A)
viral vectors.	
B)
tissue culture.	
C)
bacterial plasmids.	
D)
in vitro fertilization.

blues · Answer

Process of elimination works well on multiple choice questions. Instead of worrying which it is, for now, do any of the options strike you as unlikely?

anonymous · Answer

No.

blues · Answer

OK, so you know that you are trying to transfer DNA into the cells. So right away, something like tissue culture, which is just growing tissue in a dish, is unlikely.

blues · Answer

As is in vitro fertilisation, which in this context is just artificially putting male and female plant gametes together and watching the plant grow. No introduction of new genes at all. Which leaves two possible options...

anonymous · Answer

Yeah, I was about to type that to cancel it lol.

anonymous · Answer

I'd probably guess viral vectors, but I seriously have no idea what any of these are or what the question is asking considering we have never learned any of these terms.

blues · Answer

Viral vectors and bacterial plasmids are both used in gene transfer. In a viral vector, the gene of interest is put into a virus and the virus then infects target cells. It sort of carries the new gene with it.

Similar concept with bacterial plasmids. The gene of interest is put into a bacteria's DNA, then the bacteria transfers that DNA to the target cell.

anonymous · Answer

But we aren't talking about viruses, are we?

anonymous · Answer

In the question, I mean.  So would the answer be D?

anonymous · Answer

C*

blues · Answer

No, I'd say viruses. It depends on what kinds of cells the viruses can infect, because those are the cells they are transferring the gene into. And viruses can definitely infect plant cells.

A lot of bacterial plasmid exchange occurs only between different species of bacteria. And the question definitely asks about transfer of genes into a plant...

anonymous · Answer

I'm still not fully understanding the question nor your logic behind the answer.

blues · Answer

OK, so the challenge is, how do you get this new gene into cotton plant cells. Understanding the problem is half the battle.

anonymous · Answer

Oh, I see.  I got it.  I had to reread everything a few times to fully understand it.

blues · Answer

:) Glad it's clear.

anonymous · Answer

Thanks for the help.