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Recombinant DNA technology can only benefit humans
Nathalie Webber
Since its discovery in 1953 Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) has lead the way in scientific research and a major part of this research is the technique of creating recombinant DNA. Recombinant DNA or rDNA is DNA that has been artificially created; DNA from two or more sources is incorporated to form a single molecule.
Recombinant DNA has major implications on many areas of the scientific world, these implications can fall under five major categories; Technology, Ethical, Economic, Environmental and Social Issues. ... This method is good because it automatically leaves out the introns normally removed in the nucleus of a cell
The second method of isolation uses the mRNA produced once the DNA has split all the introns have been removed in the nucleus. The enzyme Reverse Transcriptase is then used to reproduce the DNA that mRNA came from. ... Reverse transcriptase works by building DNA strands form any mRNA molecule, so first the mRNA that corresponds to the gene being searched needs to be known. ...
The third method of isolation employs a DNA probe labelled with a fluorescent or radioactive label to target the gene in DNA extracted from the cell.
The fourth and final method of isolation is perhaps the most applied method of gene isolation its basic principles lie with the enzyme restriction endonuclease, this enzyme is used to cut DNA at certain point, these cuts will leave a staggered sticky end. In order for this method to work correctly there are two basic pieces of knowledge needed; what point on the DNA you want to cut and which endonuclease will cut at this point because each endonuclease will cut at a different base point. ... The sticky ends produced by each endonuclease allow for DNA to be manipulated and recombined with other types of DNA as long as the base sequences are complementary. ... Inserting the gene into a vector
The main type of vector used to transfer DNA into the host cell is the plasmid; which is a small cellular inclusion consisting of a ring of DNA that is not in a chromosome but is capable of autonomous replication. This simply means that an isolated gene can be inserted into the plasmid and the plasmid has the ability to incorporate that foreign DNA and replicate it. This method is commonly used with the fourth method of isolating the gene and involves the plasmid being cut open with the same restriction endonuclease as the DNA being inserted into the plasmid was. This is because each endonuclease leaves a unique sticky end and in order for DNA to be recombined within the plasmid these sticky ends must be complementary to those on the DNA being transferred. Once the foreign DNA has been transferred into the plasmid ATP and DNA ligase are used to join the sugar phosphate backbone of the foreign DNA to that of the plasmid DNA. ... The diagram below shows simply what the recombinant hybrid plasmid would look like when foreign DNA has been inserted.
Approximate Word count = 2504
Approximate Pages = 10
(250 words per page double spaced)
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