A laboratory is choosing between two procedures for introducing a recombinant plasmid into bacteria before the bacteria are grown to make a useful protein. Each plasmid contains the gene for the protein and a gene for resistance to antibiotic P. After each procedure, the bacteria are spread onto a separate agar plate containing antibiotic P. The plates are incubated under the same conditions.
The table shows the results.
| Treatment | Number of bacteria spread onto the plate | Number of colonies after incubation |
|---|---|---|
| A | 4800 | 36 |
| B | 3200 | 32 |
Calculate the percentage of bacteria that took up a plasmid for each treatment. Compare the two percentages and state which treatment was more successful.
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.