Rice, Oryza sativa, is an important food crop for human consumption. Two varieties of rice are T2A-1 and Shanyou 2. Shanyou 2 has been developed in the traditional way by selective breeding (artificial selection) and T2A-1 is an example of a genetically modified (GM) organism.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2019). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [4] (a) any four from: 1 gene(s) from, another species / variety / (soil) bacterium / Bacillus thuringensis ; 2 ref. to restriction enzyme ; 3 ref. to (Ti) plasmid / vector / Agrobacterium tumefaciens / gene gun ; 4 (DNA) ligase ; 5 ref. to recombinant, DNA / plasmid ; 6 introduced into rice, cells / genome / DNA ; 7 (new) gene, expressed / transcribed, 8 toxic protein produced ; 9 ref. to marker genes / insert promoter ;
2. [2] (b)(i) any two from: 1 (crop) yields would decrease if GM banned ; 2 prices would increase if GM banned; 3 AVP ; e.g. issues involving, food security / social unrest / wars
3. [2] (b)(ii) growing GM crops 1 helps protect, ecosystems / habitat / biodiversity; ora 2 helps reduce, greenhouse effect / global warming / climate change / risk of flooding; ora