12.1 - 12.2 Flashcards
Biotechnology
The manipulation of living organisms or their components to make useful products.
DNA Technology
Methods used to study and/or manipulate DNA, including recombinant DNA technology.
Recombinant DNA
A DNA molecule that has been manipulated in the laboratory to carry nucleotide sequences derived from two sources, often different species.
Genetic Manipulation
The direct manipulation of genes for practical purposes.
Note 1 —-»
To manipulate genes in the laboratory, biologists often use bacterial plasmids, small, circular DNA molecules that replicate (duplicate) separately from the much larger bacterial chromosome. Plasmids typically carry only a few genes, can easily be transferred into bacteria, and are passed from one generation to the next. Because plasmids are easily manipulated to carry virtually any genes, they are key tools for DNA cloning, the production of many identical copies of a target segment of DNA. Through DNA cloning, scientists can mass-produce many useful products.
Plasmid
A small ring of independently replicating DNA separated from the main chromosome(s).
DNA Cloning
The production of many identical copies of a specific segment of DNA.
Vector
A piece of DNA, usually a plasmid or viral genome, that is used to move genes from one cell to another.
Gene Cloning
The production of multiple copies of a gene.
Restriction Enzymes
A bacterial enzyme that cuts up foreign DNA, thus protecting bacteria against intruding DNA from phages and other organisms.
Restriction Site
A specific sequence on a DNA strand that is recognized as a “cut site” by a restriction enzyme.
Restriction Fragment
Molecules of DNA produced from a longer DNA molecule cut up by a restriction enzyme.
What are “sticky ends”?
Single-stranded regions of a DNA fragment whose unpaired bases can hydrogen-bond to complementary single-stranded regions of another fragment
