Biology 0610 · IGCSE
Genetic modification
100 practice questions on Genetic modification, with worked solutions and instant marking.
The diagram illustrates five stages in genetic engineering. Which of these stages includes the creation of sticky ends?
Feb/March 2016
What is put into a bacterium so that the bacterium produces insulin?
Feb/March 2017
Genes are removed from human DNA by means of ……1…… enzymes. A bacterial plasmid is then cut by the same enzyme, producing ……2…… . The human DNA is joined into the bacterial plasmid using the enzyme ……3……, creating a ……4…… plasmid. Which row completes spaces 1, 2, 3 and 4 correctly?
Feb/March 2017
Which statement concerning genetic engineering is correct?
Feb/March 2018
Large amounts of human insulin may be made using modified $E.\ coli$ bacteria. Four stages in this production method are given below. In which order do these stages occur?
Feb/March 2018
Corn is a crop plant species. Glow-worms are organisms that emit light. Which process could be used with these two species to produce corn plants that glow?
Feb/March 2019
Why are bacteria useful in genetic engineering? Give all the reasons.
Feb/March 2019
Which statement explains the function of DNA ligase in genetic engineering?
Feb/March 2019
Rice has been genetically altered by inserting genes from bacteria and another plant, enabling it to produce the nutrient beta carotene. What is this process called?
Feb/March 2021
The diagram illustrates the organisation of a bacterium. One reason that bacteria are used in genetic engineering is that they contain structure X. What is structure X?
Feb/March 2021
Vitamin A deficiency is a serious health issue in some regions of the world and may lead to conditions including blindness. Rice can be genetically modified so that people can produce vitamin A when they eat it. $150\ \text{g}$ of this rice supplies $60\%$ of the adult recommended daily intake of vitamin A. What mass of rice does an adult require to obtain $100\%$ of the recommended daily intake of vitamin A?
Feb/March 2023
What characteristic of bacteria makes them useful in genetic modification?
Feb/March 2023
Which part of bacteria is genetically altered to produce human insulin?
Feb/March 2023
Golden rice is a genetically modified variety of rice that contains the nutrient beta-carotene. Fig. 6.1 illustrates the genetic modification procedure used to make golden rice.
Feb/March 2023
Which row identifies two reasons that bacteria are used in genetic modification?
Feb/March 2024
Which row indicates uses of genetic modification?
Feb/March 2024
The diagram illustrates a bacterial cell. Which cell structure allows bacteria to be useful in genetic modification?
Feb/March 2025
Fig. 3.1 illustrates the percentage of water found in the different structures of the human body.
Feb/March 2025
A gene for insulin is isolated from a human cell and introduced into a bacterium. The bacterium can then produce human insulin. What is this process known as?
May/June 2016
A gene coding for insulin is removed from a human cell and inserted into a bacterium. The bacterium is then able to produce human insulin. What is this process known as?
May/June 2016
A gene coding for insulin is removed from a human cell and inserted into a bacterium. The bacterium is then able to produce human insulin. What is this process called?
May/June 2016
A gene that codes for insulin is removed from a human cell and inserted into a bacterium. The bacterium can then produce human insulin. What is this process called?
May/June 2016
Which enzyme is used to cut the DNA when human DNA is inserted into the plasmid DNA of bacteria?
May/June 2016
A gene coding for insulin is removed from a human cell and inserted into a bacterium. The bacterium can then produce human insulin. What is the name of this process?
May/June 2016
Define the term genetic engineering in your own words.
May/June 2016
What does the term genetic engineering mean?
May/June 2016
Genetic engineering may be used to improve crops. Fig. 5.1 contains part of a newspaper report about a new maize variety. The report is headed "BUG-FREE MAIZE" and says that scientists have produced Bt maize which has its own insecticide. Some bacteria naturally make an insecticide called Bt. Scientists removed the gene for this insecticide from the bacteria and put it into maize plants.
May/June 2016
A crop plant has been genetically modified so that it is resistant to herbicides. Which of the following could be a possible disadvantage of introducing this new crop plant?
May/June 2017
Which one gives an example of genetic engineering?
May/June 2017
What characteristic of bacteria makes them useful in genetic engineering?
May/June 2017
Which option is an example of genetic engineering?
May/June 2017
Give one example of genetic engineering.
May/June 2018
Genetic engineering has been used to manufacture human insulin. Into what type of cell were the human genes for insulin introduced?
May/June 2018
What is one disadvantage of using bacteria to produce human insulin?
May/June 2018
The diagram depicts a bacterial cell that contains a plasmid. What would be inserted into the plasmid if this cell were to be used to produce insulin?
May/June 2018
Which characteristic of bacteria allows them to be used to produce human insulin?
May/June 2018
In some regions, farmers growing genetically modified (GM) corn must ensure that there is a space between GM and non-GM crops. What is the reason for leaving a space between the crops?
May/June 2018
What does the term genetic engineering mean?
May/June 2019
In genetic engineering, which process makes use of a human gene?
May/June 2019
The diagram illustrates a bacterial cell. Which part of its structure is especially useful in genetic engineering?
May/June 2019
The diagrams illustrate the stages involved in producing human insulin. At which stage is the enzyme DNA ligase used?
May/June 2019
TPAs, which means tissue plasminogen activators, are human proteins used as drugs to dissolve blood clots. They act by switching on plasminogen. Plasminogen is a protein that is always present in the blood. After activation, plasminogen becomes a protease that breaks fibrin molecules down.
May/June 2019
Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum, is cultivated for its fibres, which develop inside the fruits after fertilisation, as shown in Fig. 3.1. Fibres taken from cotton fruits are used in the textile industry. Cotton plants have been genetically engineered so that they make a protein poisonous to the caterpillars of several insect pests. This gives the cotton plants resistance to those pests. The cry gene for pest resistance was isolated from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis and introduced into cotton plant cells, as shown in Fig. 3.2.
May/June 2019
Give one example of genetic engineering.
May/June 2021
What makes bacteria useful in genetic engineering?
May/June 2021
Human proteins may be manufactured by bacteria. Which statement explains why this can occur after a human gene has been inserted into a bacterial cell?
May/June 2021
What is meant by the term genetic engineering?
May/June 2021
Which process uses a genetically engineered organism?
May/June 2022
Which process uses a genetically engineered organism?
May/June 2022
Which process relies on a genetically engineered organism?
May/June 2022
Which process involves using a genetically engineered organism?
May/June 2022
Which process uses a genetically engineered organism?
May/June 2022
Fig. 6.1 presents a photograph of fruit growing on the branch of an orange tree, Citrus sinensis.
May/June 2022
Which statement concerning genetic modification is correct?
May/June 2023
The diagram depicts a bacterial cell. Which component is useful in genetic modification?
May/June 2023
Which of these statements about genetic modification is correct?
May/June 2023
The diagram depicts a bacterial cell that contains a plasmid. What must be put into the plasmid if this cell is to be used to produce insulin?
May/June 2023
Genetic modification has been used to make human insulin in bacterial cells. What substance is introduced into the bacterial cells to allow human insulin to be made?
May/June 2023
A gene is introduced into the genetic material of an avocado plant. This gene enables the avocado fruits to remain ripe for a longer period before decomposition begins. What is this process an example of?
May/June 2024
Which kinds of organisms are used in genetic modification because they contain plasmids?
May/June 2024
What is one example of how genetic modification is used in agriculture?
May/June 2024
Bacteria can be genetically modified so that they produce a human protein. What is the first stage in this process?
May/June 2024
A crop plant has been genetically modified so that it is resistant to herbicides. What is one possible disadvantage of introducing this new crop plant?
May/June 2024
Iron is a mineral needed in a balanced diet. People who do not obtain enough iron from their diet may develop anaemia. Fig. 7.1 shows the percentage of children with anaemia in four countries in the year 2000 and in the year 2015.
May/June 2024
What characteristic makes bacteria useful in genetic modification?
May/June 2025
Scientists have created a genetically modified pineapple plant that gives pink fruit. The pineapple fruit is pink because it contains a higher concentration of a substance known as lycopene. Eating foods that contain lycopene may benefit human health. Which statement describes the aim of this genetic modification?
May/June 2025
Several stages in the production of insulin by genetic modification are shown below. In what sequence do these stages happen? 1 cutting bacterial plasmid DNA with restriction enzymes 2 human gene expression in bacteria to produce insulin 3 putting recombinant plasmids into bacteria 4 reproduction of bacteria that contain recombinant plasmids
May/June 2025
Several stages in the production of human insulin by genetic modification are given below. 1 insertion of the human insulin gene DNA into a bacterial plasmid that has been cut 2 bacteria containing recombinant plasmids multiply and produce human insulin 3 human insulin gene DNA is isolated using restriction enzymes 4 recombinant plasmids are inserted into bacteria What is the correct order of these processes in genetic modification?
May/June 2025
Scientists created genetically modified (GM) maize. Fig. 3.1 plots the mass of GM maize cultivated in one country from 2000 to 2015.
May/June 2025
Give one example of genetic engineering.
Oct/Nov 2016
Which structures in bacteria make them useful for genetic engineering?
Oct/Nov 2016
One benefit of some genetically modified crop plants is that they do not
Oct/Nov 2016
What bacterial structures are responsible for making them useful in genetic engineering?
Oct/Nov 2016
A benefit of certain genetically modified crop plants is that they do not
Oct/Nov 2016
Which structures in bacteria make them useful for genetic engineering?
Oct/Nov 2016
One benefit of some genetically modified crop plants is that they do not
Oct/Nov 2016
As illustrated in Fig. 6.1, a DNA molecule consists of two strands.
Oct/Nov 2016
The diagram illustrates a bacterial cell that is to be used to make human insulin. What is placed into gap Q?
Oct/Nov 2017
Within genetic engineering, ligase enzymes are used for
Oct/Nov 2017
In genetic engineering, ligase enzymes are used to
Oct/Nov 2017
Ligase enzymes are used in genetic engineering for joining
Oct/Nov 2017
State one example of genetic engineering.
Oct/Nov 2018
Scientists have developed a yellow variety of rice known as Golden Rice. This rice has been created by inserting genes into rice plants. What is involved in the production of Golden Rice?
Oct/Nov 2018
Bacteria are used in genetic engineering and biotechnology. Bacteria are used because they contain which cell structure?
Oct/Nov 2018
What is one example of genetic engineering?
Oct/Nov 2018
Genetic engineering takes place in several stages. 1 human DNA is placed into bacterial plasmid DNA 2 the recombinant plasmid is inserted into bacteria 3 bacterial plasmid DNA is cut by a restriction enzyme 4 human DNA is cut by a restriction enzyme Which sequence shows the correct order for genetic engineering?
Oct/Nov 2018
Plasmids are commonly used in genetic engineering. What does the term plasmid mean?
Oct/Nov 2018
Which process uses a genetically engineered organism?
Oct/Nov 2019
Can you give one example of genetic engineering?
Oct/Nov 2019
A gene for insulin is removed from a human cell and inserted into a bacterium. The bacterium is then able to produce human insulin. What is this process known as?
Oct/Nov 2019
Which feature of a bacterial cell makes it useful in genetic engineering?
Oct/Nov 2019
Which bacterial structures make bacteria useful in genetic engineering?
Oct/Nov 2019
The diagram illustrates a bacterium. Which structure is used in genetic engineering?
Oct/Nov 2019
Genetic engineering is one instance of an important biotechnology.
Oct/Nov 2019
Three claims about the bacteria used in biotechnology and genetic engineering are given. Which claims are correct?
Oct/Nov 2021
Bacteria may be genetically engineered so that they make human protein. What takes place in this process?
Oct/Nov 2021
Which feature of bacteria makes them useful in genetic engineering?
Oct/Nov 2021
Genetically engineered bacteria can be made to manufacture human proteins, for example human insulin. What enzyme is used to ligate the human gene to the bacterial plasmid so that a recombinant plasmid is formed?
Oct/Nov 2021
Enzymes play a role in genetic engineering.
Oct/Nov 2021
Corn that was genetically engineered to resist pests was developed during the 1990s. The graph illustrates how the percentage of corn grown that was genetically engineered changed, together with the change in the mass of chemical insecticides used. Which statement describes the data shown in the graph between 1996 and 2013?
Oct/Nov 2022