IGCSE Biology

Explain the undesirable effects of deforestation as an example of habitat destruction, to include: reducing biodiversity, extinction, loss of soil, flooding and increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

State that through altering food webs and food chains, humans can have a negative impact on habitats

Describe the reasons for habitat destruction, including: (a) increased area for housing, crop plant production and livestock production (b) extraction of natural resources (c) freshwater and marine pollution

Describe biodiversity as the number of different species that live in an area

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of genetically modifying crops, including soya, maize and rice

Outline the process of genetic modification using bacterial production of a human protein as an example, limited to: (a) isolation of the DNA making up a human gene using restriction enzymes, forming sticky ends (b) cutting of bacterial plasmid DNA with the same restriction enzymes, forming complementary sticky ends (c) insertion of human DNA into … Read more

Outline examples of genetic modification: (a) the insertion of human genes into bacteria to produce human proteins (b) the insertion of genes into crop plants to confer resistance to herbicides (c) the insertion of genes into crop plants to confer resistance to insect pests (d) the insertion of genes into crop plants to improve nutritional … Read more

Describe genetic modification as changing the genetic material of an organism by removing, changing or inserting individual genes

Describe and explain the conditions that need to be controlled in a fermenter, including: temperature, pH, oxygen, nutrient supply and waste products

Describe how fermenters can be used for the large-scale production of useful products by bacteria and fungi, including insulin, penicillin and mycoprotein