Genetic Engineering
Using recombinant DNA technology to modify an organism’s DNA to achieve desirable traits is called genetic engineering. Addition of foreign DNA in the form of recombinant DNA vectors that are…
Cloning
In general, cloning means the creation of a perfect replica. Typically, the word is used to describe the creation of a genetically identical copy. In biology, the re-creation of a…
Polymerase Chain Reaction
DNA analysis often requires focusing on one or more specific regions of the genome. It also frequently involves situations in which only one or a few copies of a DNA…
Gel Electrophoresis
Because nucleic acids are negatively charged ions at neutral or alkaline pH in an aqueous environment, they can be moved by an electric field. Gel electrophoresis is a technique used…
Manipulating Genetic Material
To accomplish the applications described above, biotechnologists must be able to extract, manipulate, and analyze nucleic acids. Review of Nucleic Acid Structure To understand the basic techniques used to work…
Introduction to Biotechnology
Figure 10.1 (a) A thermal cycler, such as the one shown here, is a basic tool used to study DNA in a process called the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The…
Alternative RNA Splicing
In the 1970s, genes were first observed that exhibited alternative RNA splicing. Alternative RNA splicing is a mechanism that allows different protein products to be produced from one gene when…
How Genes Are Regulated ?
For a cell to function properly, necessary proteins must be synthesized at the proper time. All organisms and cells control or regulate the transcription and translation of their DNA into…
Translation
The synthesis of proteins is one of a cell’s most energy-consuming metabolic processes. In turn, proteins account for more mass than any other component of living organisms (with the exception…
Eukaryotic RNA Processing
The newly transcribed eukaryotic mRNAs must undergo several processing steps before they can be transferred from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and translated into a protein. The additional steps involved…
