Question

(a) Bacillus thuringiensis ( Bt) produces protein that is found to be effective ineradicating crop pests. Contrast pest eradication using transgenic Bt crops and the dispersal on infested crops of freeze-dried Bt cells.

(b) Differentiate the efficacy in the production of genetically engineered plants harboring the gene/trait of interest, as opposed to selective breeding.

Answer 1

(a) Answer- The pest eradication method by using transgenic Bt crops will be more effective because, the transgenic Bt cells which are currently part of living plant can produce more toxic proteins for killing pathogen as compared to externally dusted Bt cells.

(b) Answer-

Genetically engineered plants of desired trait can be easily produced in a single generation by manipulating their genes and we can get desired phenotype.

Or we can say that by genetic engineering we can get the desired phenotype in a very small time (in single generation).

Selective breeding- In this method we will get the desired phenotype by repeated crossing of individuals with better phenotypic traits. It will take very long time and also the results of such crosses can't be completely pre-determined.