Biotechnology: modification of organisms, cells, or molecules to produce food, drugs, or other goods. Used of yeast to make bread, beer, and wine. More modern uses modify the genes directly through genetic engineering. A key tool is creating recombinant dna (dna that has been altered to contain gene or portions of genes from different organisms) Plants and animals that express dna that has been modified or derived from other species are transgenic or genetically modified organisms (gmos) During meiosis i, homologous chromosomes exchange dna. Therefore, every egg & every sperm contain recombinant dna derived from the two parents. Transformation may combine dna from different bacterial species. In transformation, bacteria pick up pieces of dna from the environment. This dna could be part of a chromosome from another bacterium or tiny circular dna molecular called plasmids. Small pieces of dna, not included in the chromosomes, that may be present in bacteria in multiple copies.
