# Do the GMO people ever add a complete chromosome?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-gmo-people-ever-add-a-complete-chromosome/601485>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 1, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-gmo-people-ever-add-a-complete-chromosome/601485 "2011-11-01T14:03:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-gmo-people-ever-add-a-complete-chromosome/601485/1 "2011-11-01T14:03:54Z")

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We often read of the genetic engineering people adding a gene. Do the GMO people ever add a complete chromosome?

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-gmo-people-ever-add-a-complete-chromosome/601485/2 "2011-11-01T15:42:38Z")

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I haven’t worked with GMO people in more than a decade, but back in the early days, it was only a single gene or two. It took as long to figure out which chromosome to attach a gene to to get the desired effect as it did to figure out which gene produced the effect.

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**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-gmo-people-ever-add-a-complete-chromosome/601485/3 "2011-11-01T19:13:34Z")

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In yeast they use [artificial mini chromosomes](http://www.google.ch/#hl=en&q=artificial+yeast+mini+chromosomes&oq=artificial+yeast+mini+chromosomes&aq=f&aqi=&aql=1&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=18120l22260l2l23228l11l11l0l0l0l2l318l1655l3.7.0.1l11l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=30e9bca2a5cf1ff6&biw=1353&bih=970)

There are also papers on plant and [human artificial mini chromosomes](http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2001/05/04-03.html?ref=hp)

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**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-gmo-people-ever-add-a-complete-chromosome/601485/4 "2011-11-01T21:38:38Z")

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The trick is to add the genes that you want the organism to grow with and use. With one-cell organisms it’s not so relevant, but with sexual organisms, it may cause problems if there is a mismatch of chromosomes. Besides, a chromosome may have hundreds or thousnds of genes, are they all necessary, relevant, and definitely not detrimental?

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**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-gmo-people-ever-add-a-complete-chromosome/601485/5 "2011-11-01T21:41:43Z")

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I am almost 100% certain that we have created a bacterium that is made of 100% synthesized genetic material. They removed the genetic material of a compatible bacterium, and inserted the new stuff, and it went on living and functioning just fine.

However, when salmon and plants and such are GMO’d, according to the class I took on the subject back in college a few years ago, it’s just a couple genes that they insert or remove from particular chromosomes.

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**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-gmo-people-ever-add-a-complete-chromosome/601485/6 "2011-11-01T22:07:32Z")

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> [@drewtwo99](#):
>
> I am almost 100% certain that we have created a bacterium that is made of 100% synthesized genetic material. They removed the genetic material of a compatible bacterium, and inserted the new stuff, and it went on living and functioning just fine.

[Indeed.](http://www.jcvi.org/cms/press/press-releases/full-text/article/first-self-replicating-synthetic-bacterial-cell-constructed-by-j-craig-venter-institute-researcher/)