Biotechnology

Biotechnology is when we use natural biological processes to solve a human problem.

People using prosthetic limbs, using plants to keep soil in place, and breeding animals together to get them to look the way you want.

Scientists use DNA to catch criminals, or to figure out who a baby belongs to.

Humans can affect traits of other living things by mixing them together through artificial selection. We do this a lot with dogs to get breeds like goldendoodles, a mix of a poodle and a golden retriever.

I think biotechnology is used to make medicine or like when someone has to get chemotherapy.

When I used my finger to unlock my phone. I washed my hands with antibacterial soap.

Scientists used bacteria and added just one extra gene to it to develop insulin to treat people with diabetes.

DNA is the genetic material that is found in the cells of living things, genes are specific pieces of DNA that give living things their traits.

In sexual reproduction, which includes most plants and animals, offspring get their genes from their parents. They get half from mom and half from dad.

Artificial selection is used to make something look or taste a specific way. One way we use artificial selection is to make animals, like sheep, the way we want.

Plants can be bred for different traits that can eventually lead to a new kind of food. For example kale, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts all used to be the same plant, and now they have evolved to be all different plants.

Some laundry soaps contain special enzymes. Those enzymes are a protein that we find in many plants and animals. Some enzymes are really good at breaking down stains, so scientists have figured out a way to add them to laundry soap to make it more effective.