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Genetic engineering is an umbrella term that can cover a wide range of ways of changing the genetic material -- the DNA code -- in a living organism. ... Apart from identical twins, genetic make-up is unique to each individual. ... Defects of individual genes can cause a malfunction in the metabolism of the body, and are the roots of many “genetic” diseases. In a sense, man has been using genetic engineering for thousands of years. ... Recombinant DNA technology is the newest form of genetic engineering, which involves the manipulation of DNA on the molecular level. ... But a negative aspect is that it changes the forms of life we know of, possibly damaging our environment It has been known for some time that genetic information can be transferred between micro-organisms. ... Both of these are termed vectors, this is because of their ability to move genetic material. ... nevertheless, this can restriction can be overcome with the use of genetic engineering because it allows the introduction of any gene. While genetic engineering is beginning to be used to produce enzymes, the technology itself also depends on the harnessing of enzymes, which are available in nature. ... By mobilising pieces of DNA in this way (including copies of human genes), genetic engineers are now fabricating genetically modified microbes for a wide range of applications in industry, medicine and agriculture. ... Genetic engineers use another type of enzyme, DNA ligase, to make the union permanent. This is the key principle of genetic engineering the use of two types of enzyme to cut out one piece of DNA and then to attach it to another piece. The genetic engineers toolkit now contains several hundred different restriction enzymes. ... To insert a DNA fragment into a vector, the genetic engineer first splits open the plasmid by adding the same restriction enzyme that was used to release the DNA fragment from the DNA of the donor organism. ... By using a variety of restriction enzymes to cut up DNA into manageable pieces, and then cloning these sequences, it is possible to create a DNA library a collection of sequences carrying all the genetic information in a particular organism. ... Genetic engineers are usually interested only in the genes that are actually functioning at any one time for example, one responsible for producing a specific enzyme. ... The genetic engineer also needs to know the amino acid sequence of the protein coded by the gene. By following the genetic code, a corresponding stretch of RNA can now be synthesised chemically. ... The applications of genetic engineering are vast, probably the most well known is gene therapy in the medical world. ... Tumours in lung cancer patients shrunk or stopped growing when scientists inserted healthy genes into to replace defective or missing genes, it demonstrated that by correcting a single genetic abnormality in lung cancer cells may be enough to slow down or stop the spread of cancer. ... As well as in medicine there are many applications of genetic engineering in agriculture. ... Recently, genetic technology has shown that it will affect our everyday lives, such as in the grocery store. ... Transgenic technology bypasses conventional breeding by using artificially constructed parasitic genetic elements as vectors to multiply copies of genes, and in many cases, to carry and smuggle genes into cells that would normally exclude them. ... The most common vectors used in gene biotechnology are a mosaic recombination of natural genetic parasites from different sources, including viruses causing cancers and other diseases in animals and plants, with their pathogenic functions crippled, and tagged with one or more antibiotic resistance marker genes, so that cells transformed with the vector can be selected.
Approximate Word count = 2916
Approximate Pages = 11.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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