T19 Genetic Technology Flashcards
Restriction Endonuclease
An enzymes used to cut DNA at a specific base sequence
Taq polymerase
An enzyme derived from bacteria that are adapted to live in hot water springs; the enzyme has a very high optimum temperature, and is used to synthesise new strands of DNA during PCR
DNA ligase
An enzyme that catalyses the formation of bonds between phosphate groups and deoxyribose during the synthesis of DNA
Reverse Transcriptase
An enzyme that produces complementary DNA strands using an RNA template
Promoter
A length of DNA that controls the expression of a gene
Primer
A short length of DNA with a base sequence complementary to the part of a DNA strand that is to be copied during PCR
Recombinant
an adjective used to describe DNA or an organism in which the DNA has been modified so that it contains base sequences from more than one organism
Vector
A go-between used to insert genes into a cell. Examples include liposomes, viruses and plasmids
Bioinformatics
The collection processing and analysing of biological material using computerised databases
DNA microarray
A small piece of glass or plastic on which thousands of tiny pieces of single stranded DNA area attached in a regular arrangement; the DNA pieces act as probes and allow rapid analysis of DNA of unknown composition
Gel electrophoresis
A method of separating lengths of DNA or proteins according to their relative mass or charge
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
A (usually fully automated) method of rapidly producing many copies of a small DNA sample
Amniocentesis
Taking a small sample of amniotic fluid during 15th of 16th week of pregnancy, so that the genotype of the fetus can be determined
Chorionic Villus Sampling
Taking small sample from one of the villi in the placenta, between the tenth and 13th week of pregnancy, so that the genotype of the fetus can determined
Embryo Biopsy
The medial procedure that involves taking small samples of tissues from any embryo for further analysis
Embryo preselection
Genetic profiling of embryos to determine which should be implanted
Embryo transfer
Embryos are removed from a female mammal and transferred to one or more surrogate mothers to complete development until birth
Gene therapy
inserting DNA into the cells of an organism to correct a harmful genetic condition
Genetic counselling
The giving of information and advise to potential parents about the risks of having children with an inherited disease
Genetic profiling (fingerprinting)
Sequencing a length of DNA from an organism, to compare with the sequence of the same DNA from other organisms
Genetic screening
Testing an embryo, fetus or adult to find out whether a particular allele is present
Genome
The genetic complement (genes) of an organism of of an individual cell - the whole of the genetic information of an organism
In vitro fertilisation (IVF)
The addition of sperm to eggs in a Petri dish or other container, in which fertilisation takes place
Liposome
A small sphere of lipid and protein; it can be used in genetic technology to transport DNA into a cell
Therapeutic abortion
Terminating a pregnancy for medical reason
Variable number tandem repeat (VNTR)
A length of DNA that contains different number of repeated base sequences in different individuals in a species
