Participants will find new words in this lessons. Some may be similar to words they already know and some will not be.

Biotechnology involves the use or manipulation of living organisms to produce useful products. This includes using microbes to produce bread or yogurt or applying genetic engineering to make pest-resistant plants. It comes from the Greek root, bios, which means life, and technē meaning craft or skill.

Genetic engineering is a new method of genetic modification that involves the scientific alteration of the genome of a living organism, using the tools of recombinant DNA.

Genomics is the study of the genome, which contains most all of the genetic information in an organism that determines its traits. The word is from the German, gen, meaning to produce, and the Greek, ome, meaning body.

Marker assisted breeding is a process by which a visible, chemical or RNA/DNA-based marker is used to select indirectly plants that have traits of interest.

Recombinant DNA means joining DNA together from two sources, using enzymes that can cut and paste DNA. It is the process used to genetically engineer plants.

Selective breeding is a classical means of genetic modification that involves crossing two different, but compatible, organisms to get offspring that have the desirable traits of both parents.

You may notice other words with these same roots. By finding the root in a word, you may be able to figure out what it means, even if you have never seen the word.

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