More silly biotech Flashcards
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Transferring of genes to plants via ti plasmids
A type of bacteria called Agrobaterium causes tumours in plants.
- They contain a particular plasmid called a Ti plasmid which is removed and a desired gene is added to it.
- The plasmid is returned to the bacteria, which is used to infect a plant.
- The bacteria inserts the modified Ti plasmid into the plant cells.
- This causes a tumour to develop (rapidly dividing cells which all have the new gene)
- The tumour can be removed, treated with tissue culture techniques, and grown into many new plants
What does CRISPR stand for
clustered regulary interspaced short palindromic repeats
What is CRISPR/Cas 9 used for
To accurately cut DNA at any desired location
to increase the speed and accuracy of gene editing
to edit and switch genes on and offin live cells
How is CRISPR useful for bacteria
Bacteria can protect themeselves from viral infection by stroing part of the viral DNA in part of its chomrosome called CRISPR
If the same virus attacks the bacterial cell again, the bacteria makes an RNA
copy of the virus’s DNA that it had stored.
This RNA can be “loaded” into an enzyme called Cas9
Cas9 can cut DNA at specific sites as instructed by the RNA
In bacteria the enzyme will cut and destroy any viral DNA that corresponds with its loaded RNA sequence CRISPR origin
cas9
(CRISPR associated
protein 9)
How is CRISPR used in gene editing
The Cas9 protein is programmable by loading it with an RNA molecule of specific sequence
The site at which it will cut DNA is determined by the base sequence of RNA that is loaded into it
This means that any desired DNA sequence can be altered or removed
What determines the function of proteins
their shape, and
their shape is determined by the amino acid sequence
Proteins in the future
scientists are calculating ways in
which a particular protein will fold.
This involves computer analysis to determine the simplest amino acid sequence that will produce a protein with the required shape.
Using this method, proteins with a desired function could be manufactured
Design steps for proteins
design the required shape of the protein
determine the amino acid sequence that will produce this shape
use the genetic code to construct a DNA molecule with the base sequence
that codes for the desired sequence of amino acids
incorporate the DNA into bacterial cells (with a method such as plasmids)
culture the bacteria, isolate and harvest the protein molecules
Potential uses
vaccines that bind to viruses or bacteria
channel proteins that regulate movement of specifics/ubstances across membranes, enhancing their uptake
proteins that can be used to detect other chemicals (the protein might change colour, or glow).
