2 Scientists often want to know if the genetically transformed organism can pass its new traits on to its offspring and future generations To get this information which would be a better candidate for your investigation an organism in which each new a generation develops and reproduces quickly or one which does this slower 3 Safety is another important consideration in choosing an experimental organism What traits or characteristics should the organism have or not have to be sure it will not harm you or the environment 4 Based on the above considerations which would be the best choice for a genetic transformation a bacterium earthworm fish or mouse Provide your reasoning LAB ACTIVITY 1 HOW CAN I TELL IF CELLS HAVE BEEN GENETICALLY TRANSFORMED Recall that the goal of genetic transformation is to change an organism s traits also known as their phenotype Before any change in the phenotype of an organism can be detected a thorough examination of its natural pre transformation phenotype must be made Look at the colonies of E coli on your starter plates 5 The following pre transformation observations of E coli might provide baseline data to refer to when attempting to determine if any genetic transformation has occurred Please record your observation of starter plate in Table 1