Poster: Designing a New
Genetically Engineered Food Product
AgBiosafety.unl.edu
Introduction
Many things
must be considered when creating a new genetically engineered crop. What will
be the benefits of this new product?
What testing will be needed to address safety concerns? What will be consumer opinion of the new
product? In this lesson, students will be placed in the role of the genetic
engineer and will apply their understanding of the steps in the crop genetic
engineering process to design a new genetically engineered food of their
choice.
OBJECTIVES
1.Students will
learn the basic steps of genetically engineering a crop as outlined in the
biotechnology basics section of http://agbiosafety.unl.edu/education/.
2. Students will adapt their
understanding of the crop genetic engineering and apply this understanding to
create a new food product.
3.Students will
evaluate their product and predict its benefits and limitations.
4.Students will
explore the economic, social, environmental and ethical ramifications of their
product.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
-
Poster
board or poster-sized pieces of paper
-
Markers
or crayons
-
Any
materials students want to include with their presentations (i.e. foodstuffs or
diagrams)
Process
of genetic engineering
Instructors may adapt the language for students of different learning levels, however the basic process of crop genetic
engineering follows these steps:
-The organism the trait/s is originating from
-The gene encoding the trait
-How the gene is modified to achieve the desired expression of the trait
-The cells of the organism that the transgene
is inserted into
-Any breeding that would need to be done to improve the final product
-The final product
*picture
Lesson
1. Through instructor-led
discussion students will discuss the steps and process of genetic
engineering. (Information
available at http://agbiosafety.unl.edu/education/).
2. Instructor will discuss types
of genetically engineered crops and their traits
3. Students will be divided into
groups of 3-4 students.
4. In the groups students will
brainstorm ideas for a new genetically engineered crop product.
5. Students will select one of
their ideas for the new product, and outline the steps necessary to create the
new product.
6. Students will create a poster
showing the steps necessary to create the new product.
a. the poster will have drawings of
the steps and text that briefly explains the step
b.
Students will list the benefits of their new product and any
limitations that they might predict as a result of their product
7. On completion of the posters,
students will display the poster and discuss their product through
instructor-led discussion.
Assessment
Students should largely be assessed by their understanding of the process
of genetic engineering. A simple grading
rubric like the one below can be used to grade the student’s project.
Understanding of the process of genetic engineering and adaptation to the
new product creation 50
Explanation of new product on poster and in discussion 25
Explanation of the possible benefits and limitations 10
Creativity of the new product idea 10 points
Poster neatness, organization and completeness 5