Manipulating Genomes Flashcards
DNA sequencing
a technique that allows genes to be isolated and read
autoradiograms
photographs made when photographic film is exposed to molecules labelled with radioactivity
activated nucleotide
a nucleotide with 2 extra phosphoryl groups
in pyrosequencing, the amount of light generated
is proportional to the amount of ATP available so indicated how many of the same type of activated nucleotide were incorporated adjacently into the cDNA
bioinformatics
branch of biology that deals with storing, displaying and using large quantities of complex data
methylation
addition of methyl (CH3) groups to a molecule- it plays a major role in regulating gene expression to map human genomes and understand diseases/cancer
polymorphism
having more than one form- may refer to variations within the DNA sequences of a gene
polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
a biomedial technology in molecular biology that can amplify a short length of DNA to millions of copies
PCR relies on the fact that
DNA has 2 antiparallel backbones, each strand has a 5’ end/3’ end, DNA only grows from 3’ end, bases pair up according to complementary pairing rules
PCR differs from DNA replication in that
only short sequences (not chromosomes) can be replicated, requires the addition of a primer to make process start, cycle of heating/cooling to separate DNA strands
primers
short (10-20 base pairs) single-stranded sequences of DNA needed for sequencing reactions and PCR
electrophoresis
process used to separate proteins or DNA fragments of different sizes
DNA ligase
catalyses the joining of sugar and phosphate groups by a condensation reaction within DNA
electroporation
method for introducing a vector with a novel gene into a cell- pulse of electricity make the recipient cell membrane more porous
plasmids
small loops of DNA in prokaryotic cells
recombinant DNA
composite DNA molecule created in vitro by joining foreign DNA with a vector molecule such as a plasmid
restriction enzymes
endonuclease enzymes that cleave DNA molecules at specific recognition sites- they cut up foreign viral DNA
vector
in gene technology, anything that can carry/insert DNA into a host organism
reverse transcriptase
retroviruses (HIV) which contain RNA that they inject into the host genome, have this to catalyse the production of cDNA using RNA as a template
germ line therapy
gene therapy by inserting functional alleles into gametes or zygotes
somatic cell gene therapy
gene therapy by inserting functional alleles into body cells
principle of gene therapy
insert a functional allele of a particular gene that contain only mutated/non-functioning alleles so it will produce a functioning proteins and no longer have symptoms of the genetic disorder
