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6.2 Feeding the human race

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Question 1

Government regulators have received an application for a slow-ripening GM cucumber to be approved for commercial cultivation.

Trial information supplied with the application states that:

  • a changed version of a gene controlling ripening is present in the GM cucumber
  • harvested cucumbers may spend several days in transport and storage before reaching shops
  • growers are expected to plant the GM cucumber across large areas
  • several existing non-GM varieties may no longer be grown in some regions if approval is granted.

The Table gives results from a storage trial. It shows the percentage of the harvested crop that could still be sold.

Table

Time after harvestNon-GM cucumbers suitable for saleGM cucumbers suitable for sale
2 days90%91%
10 days29%68%

Evaluate the proposal to allow this GM cucumber to be grown in the country.

In your response, use the data and your knowledge of the benefits and risks of gene technology.

[6]
Markscheme

6.2 Feeding the human race Questions

  1. GCSE
  2. /Biology
  3. /6.2 Feeding the human race

127 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Biology 6.2 Feeding the human race, covering 6.2.1 Biological factors affecting food security, 6.2.2 Agricultural solutions to growing demand, 6.2.3 Selective breeding, 6.2.4 Genetic engineering, 6.2.5 Steps in genetic engineering, 6.2.6 Benefits and risks of gene technology in agriculture, and 6.2.7 Biotechnological solutions to growing demand. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.

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