State whether true or false.
Oil guzzlers are the genetically modified microbes which are capable of breaking down oil spills.
State whether true or false.
Oil guzzlers are the genetically modified microbes which are capable of breaking down oil spills.
The correct option is A Both the assertion and reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation for the assertion.
Oil guzzlers are the group of patented microbes by Dr. Ananda Chakrabarty which are capable of breaking down oil spills. Prof. Chakrabarty genetically engineered a new species of pseudomonas bacteria ("the oil-eating bacteria") in 1971. At the time, four known species of oil-metabolizing bacteria were known to exist, but when introduced into an oil spill, they competed with each other, limiting the amount of crude that they degraded. The genes necessary to degrade oil were carried on plasmids, which could be transferred among species. By irradiating the transformed organism with UV light after plasmid transfer, Prof. Chakrabarty discovered a method for genetic cross-linking that fixed all four plasmid genes in place and produced a new, stable, bacterial species Pseudomonas putida capable of consuming oil one or two orders of magnitude faster than the previous four strains of oil-eating microbes. The new microbe, which Chakrabarty called "multiplasmid hydrocarbon-degrading Pseudomonas," could digest about two-thirds of the hydrocarbons that would be found in a typical oil spill.
Oil guzzlers are the group of patented microbes by Dr. Ananda Chakrabarty which are capable of breaking down oil spills. Prof. Chakrabarty genetically engineered a new species of pseudomonas bacteria ("the oil-eating bacteria") in 1971. At the time, four known species of oil-metabolizing bacteria were known to exist, but when introduced into an oil spill, they competed with each other, limiting the amount of crude that they degraded. The genes necessary to degrade oil were carried on plasmids, which could be transferred among species. By irradiating the transformed organism with UV light after plasmid transfer, Prof. Chakrabarty discovered a method for genetic cross-linking that fixed all four plasmid genes in place and produced a new, stable, bacterial species Pseudomonas putida capable of consuming oil one or two orders of magnitude faster than the previous four strains of oil-eating microbes. The new microbe, which Chakrabarty called "multiplasmid hydrocarbon-degrading Pseudomonas," could digest about two-thirds of the hydrocarbons that would be found in a typical oil spill.
