Why was PCR amplification of the 35S promoter from the cauliflower mosaic virus chosen as the means to detect whether or not a food has been genetically modified?

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Explanation:

Note that Polymerases Chain Reaction (PCR) is used to amplify food DNA to test for the presence of genetically modified DNA in food products because usually DNA fragments can be isolated from highly processed goods and are sufficiently intact to be amplified by PCR.

The process used by Genetic engineers is called gel electrophoresis where only a small number of regulatory sequences (promoter and terminator sequences) are used to control the expression of the inserted genes.

PCR amplification of the 35S promoter from the cauliflower mosaic virus chosen as the means to detect whether or not a food has been genetically modified because of its ability to amplify specific DNA fragments from highly processed materials.

Explanation:

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is the most generally accepted GMO detection technique. This substance is used because of its ability to amplify specific DNA fragments from highly processed materials2. PCR-based GMO detection strategies deploy the underlisted techniques for the detections. They include element screening, construct-specific and transgenic event-specific methods3. The construct-specific detection method involves targeting the junction between two elements and it is not able to distinguish two different events transformed with the same plasmid4. Event-specific detection can precisely distinguish legitimate transgenic events from related illegal varieties transformed with similar or identical transgenic constructs, conseqently, it is often used to evaluate the legality of a GMO sample3.

For effective & strategic screening, the screening method targets the most frequently used elements in transgenic constructs. The strategy has the lowest specificity and is mainly used for rapid evaluation of high numbers of GMOs.