Biology · OCR Paper 2
Feeding the Human Race
How the world can feed a growing population: the biological factors behind food security, farming solutions such as fertilisers, pesticides, hydroponics and biological control, selective breeding, genetic engineering and its steps, the benefits and risks of gene technology in agriculture, and biotechnology such as mycoprotein and GM crops. Matches OCR B6.2 (Feeding the human race), parts a to g. Food security, agricultural solutions and biotechnology and food production are for separate Biology only; selective breeding, genetic engineering and the benefits and risks of gene technology are for Combined Science and separate Biology; the steps of genetic engineering are Higher tier only.
Lessons
Ticks are remembered on this device only.
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1
Food Security
Why do hundreds of millions of people go hungry when the world grows more food than ever before? This lesson is for separate Biology only: Combined Science…
9 terms -
2
Agricultural Solutions to the Demands of the Growing Population
Farmers have to grow more food from the same amount of land without wrecking the environment. This lesson is for separate Biology only: Combined Science…
9 terms -
3
Selective Breeding of Plants and Animals
Almost every plant and animal that we eat has been shaped by people choosing which individuals should breed. This lesson is for both Combined Science and…
9 terms -
4
Genetic Engineering
Selective breeding takes many generations to change a crop, but genetic engineering can add a useful gene in a single step. This lesson is for both Combined…
8 terms -
5
The Steps of Genetic Engineering (Higher tier)
To move a gene from one organism to another, scientists need molecular scissors, molecular glue and a vehicle to carry the gene into a cell. This lesson is for…
10 terms -
6
Benefits and Risks of Gene Technology in Agriculture
Genetically modified crops divide opinion, and the exam expects you to weigh up both sides. This lesson is for both Combined Science and separate Biology. It…
9 terms -
7
Biotechnology and Food Production
Living organisms can be used as factories, to make food, medicines and crops that the world needs. This lesson is for separate Biology only: Combined Science…
10 terms -
Knowledge organiser
The whole chapter on a page or two of A4 — to revise from on screen or print.
Key terms in this chapter
All 64, gathered from every lesson.
- Food security
- Having access to enough safe, nutritious food, at all times, to live a healthy life.
- Food insecurity
- A lack of reliable access to enough food, so that people go hungry or are undernourished.
- Pest
- An organism, usually an insect, that damages crops or livestock.
- Pathogen
- A microorganism that causes disease, such as a fungus, bacterium or virus.
- Environmental change
- A change in the conditions of the environment, such as a rise in temperature, a drought or the loss of soil.
- Sustainable
- Meeting the needs of people now without stopping future generations from meeting their needs.
- Agricultural inputs
- The things a farmer has to provide to grow crops or rear animals, such as seed, fertiliser, pesticide, feed, fuel and water.
- Yield
- The mass of a crop or animal product that is harvested from an area of land or from an animal.
- Population
- All of the individuals of one species, such as humans, living in one place.
- Fertiliser
- A substance containing mineral ions, such as nitrate, phosphate and potassium, that is added to soil to help crops grow.
- Pesticide
- A chemical that kills pests, such as insects (insecticide), weeds (herbicide) or fungi (fungicide).
- Hydroponics
- Growing plants with their roots in a solution of mineral ions instead of in soil.
- Biological control
- Using living organisms, such as predators, parasites or pathogens, to reduce the numbers of a pest.
- Eutrophication
- Too many mineral ions in water, causing an algal bloom, then the death of plants and a loss of oxygen so that animals die.
- Predator
- An animal that kills and eats other animals.
- Mineral ions
- Substances such as nitrate, phosphate and potassium that plants take in through the roots to stay healthy.
- Resistance
- The ability of an organism to survive a chemical such as a pesticide, which it passes on to its offspring.
- Pollinator
- An animal, such as a bee, that carries pollen between flowers, so that the plants can make seeds and fruit.
- Selective breeding
- Choosing parents with wanted characteristics and breeding them over many generations; also called artificial selection.
- Artificial selection
- Selection by people, not by the environment, of which organisms will breed.
- Domesticated
- Kept and bred by people for food, work or company.
- Variation
- The differences between individuals of the same species.
- Allele
- A different version of the same gene.
- Inbreeding
- Breeding between closely related individuals.
- Yield
- The mass of a crop or of a product such as milk or eggs that is obtained from an area of land or an animal.
- Disease resistance
- The ability of an organism to avoid being infected by, or being harmed by, a pathogen.
- Inherited disorder
- A disease caused by an allele passed from parent to offspring.
- Genetic engineering
- Modifying the genome of an organism by inserting a gene, to give it a desirable characteristic.
- Genetically modified (GM)
- Describes an organism whose genome has been changed by genetic engineering.
- Genome
- The entire genetic material of an organism.
- Gene
- A small section of DNA that codes for a particular protein.
- Desirable characteristic
- A feature that people want, such as resistance to pests or a higher yield.
- Bt gene
- A gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis that makes a protein harming caterpillars, put into crops such as maize.
- Insulin
- A hormone, made by the pancreas, that lowers the blood glucose level.
- Fermenter
- A large tank in which microorganisms are grown in the right conditions to make a product.
- Restriction enzyme
- An enzyme that cuts DNA at a specific sequence of bases.
- Sticky ends
- Short unpaired stretches of bases left at the cut ends of DNA, which can pair with complementary sticky ends.
- DNA ligase
- An enzyme that joins pieces of DNA together by sealing the sugar-phosphate backbone.
- Vector
- A carrier, such as a plasmid or a virus, that takes a gene into a host cell.
- Plasmid
- A small circular loop of DNA in a bacterium, separate from its main chromosome.
- Recombinant DNA
- DNA made by joining DNA from two different sources.
- Host bacterium
- A bacterium that takes in the recombinant plasmid and makes the protein from the new gene.
- Antibiotic resistance marker
- A gene on the plasmid that makes bacteria resistant to an antibiotic, which is used to select the bacteria that have taken it up.
- Complementary base pairing
- The pairing of A with T and of C with G between bases in DNA.
- Colony
- A visible group of identical bacteria on agar, grown from a single bacterium.
- GM crop
- A crop plant whose genome has been changed by genetic engineering.
- Gene flow
- The spread of genes from one population to another, for example by pollen from a GM crop to a wild relative.
- Non-target organism
- An organism that is harmed by a pesticide or a GM trait although it is not the pest that was aimed at.
- Resistance
- The ability of a pest or weed to survive a pesticide, herbicide or Bt protein.
- Herbicide
- A chemical that kills weeds.
- Biodiversity
- The variety of living organisms in an ecosystem or on Earth.
- Patent
- Legal protection that gives a company the sole right to sell a new invention, such as a GM seed.
- Ethical consideration
- A question about what is right or wrong, rather than what is possible.
- Practical consideration
- A question about what will happen, what it will cost and whether it will work.
- Biotechnology
- Using living organisms, or parts of them such as enzymes, to make useful products.
- Mycoprotein
- A protein-rich food made from the fungus Fusarium that is grown in a fermenter.
- Fusarium
- The fungus that is grown to produce mycoprotein.
- Hyphae
- The thin threads that make up the body of a fungus.
- Fermenter
- A large vessel in which microorganisms are grown under controlled conditions to make a product.
- Beta-carotene
- An orange pigment that the body can turn into vitamin A.
- Vitamin A deficiency
- A lack of vitamin A in the diet, which can cause blindness and weaken the immune system.
- Golden rice
- A genetically modified rice whose grains make beta-carotene.
- GM livestock
- Farm animals or fish whose genomes have been changed by genetic engineering.
- Staple food
- A food, such as rice, that makes up a large part of the diet of a population.