Manipulating Genomes Flashcards
What is Bioinformatics
The development of software/computing tools to organise and analyse vast quantities of raw biological data
What is computational biology
Using the data to build theoretical models of biological systems
What is synthetic biology
-An emerging area of research that can broadly be described as the design and construction of novel artificial biological pathways, organisms or devices, or the redesign of existing natural biological systems’
How has genome sequencing allowed for genome-wide comparisons between individuals and between species?
=> Helping scientists understand evolutionary differences between organisms - DNA sequences of different organisms can be compared as basic mutation rate of DNA can be calculated this can be compared to how long ago ago two species have compared from the common ancestor.
=> Bioinformatics and computational biology
=> Spliceosomes, introns are removed by splicing turning pre-mRNA to mRNA
What are the different techniques of synthetic biology?
Genetic Engineering - A single change in biological pathway of a whole organism
Synthesis of new genes to replace faulty genes
Synthesis of an entire new organism
What are the four steps in genetic engineeering
- Isolate the gene - Restriction endonucleases to cut the desired gene of the DNA, this causes sticky ends to easily anneal to the vectors
- Package the gene in a vector - Cut the vector with the same restriction endonucleases to form complementary sticky ends, the desired gene is inserted into vector using DNA ligase.
- Transfer the vector to the recipient cell - The recombinant DNA inserted into host cell through electroporation so plasmids can pass through the membrane
- Recipient cell expresses the gene - Host cell undergoes mitosis
Why do we compare genomes?
- Evolutionary relationships
- Compare base sequences to predict the function of unknown protein
- Universal
- Compare between and within species
