Chapter 9: Biotechnology and DNA Technology

DNA

________ can be introduced directly into an animal cell by microinjection.

Proteomics

________ is the science of determining all of the pro- teins expressed in a cell.

Humans

________ use artificial selection to select desirable breeds of animals or strains of plants to cultivate.

Site directed mutagenesis

________ is more targeted and can be used to make a specific change in a gene.

safety issues

The ________ in agricultural biotechnology are similar to those concerning chemical pesticides: toxicity to humans and to nonpest species.

polymerase chain reaction

The ________ (PCR) is a technique by which small samples of DNA can be quickly amplified, that is, increased to quantities that are large enough for analysis.

electroporation

A process called ________ uses an electrical current to form microscopic pores in the membranes of cells; the DNA then enters the cells through the pores.

transcription

Following ________, RNAs called small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are formed after processing by an enzyme called Dicer.

shuttle vectors

They are called ________ and can be used to move cloned DNA sequences among organisms, such as among bacterial, yeast, and mammalian cells, or among bacterial, fungal, and plant cells.

Biotechnology

________ is the use of microorganisms, cells, or cell com- ponents to make a product.

siRNA

The ________ molecules bind to mRNA, which is then destroyed by proteins called the RNA- induced silencing complex (RISC), thus silencing the expression of a gene.

Microorganisms

________ and plants are being used as "factories "to produce chemicals that the organisms dont naturally make.

method of identification

For several years, microbiologists have used RFLPs in a(n) ________ known as DNA fingerprinting to identify bacterial or viral pathogens.

micropipette

The ________ punctures the plasma membrane, and DNA can be injected through it.

Gene silencing

________ is a natural process that occurs in a wide variety of eukaryotes and is apparently a defense against viruses and transposons.

Subunit vaccines

________, consisting only of a protein portion of a pathogen, are being made by genetically modifying yeasts.

DNA vaccines

________ are usually circular plasmids that include a gene encoding a viral protein thats under the transcriptional control of a promoter region active in human cells.

DNA sequencing

________ has produced an enormous amount of information that has spawned the new field of bioinformatics, the science of understanding the function of genes through computer- assisted analysis.

Protoplasts

________ are produced by enzy- matically removing the cell wall, thereby allowing more direct access to the plasma membrane.

shotgun sequencing

In ________, small pieces of a genome of a free- living cell are sequenced, and the sequences are then assem- bled using a computer.

Reverse genetics

________ attempts to connect a given genetic sequence with specific effects on the organism.

Biotechnology is the use of microorganisms, cells, or cell com

ponents to make a product

These stag

gered ends, or sticky ends, are most useful in rDNA because they can be used to join two different pieces of DNA that were cut by the same restriction enzyme

Protoplasts are produced by enzy

matically removing the cell wall, thereby allowing more direct access to the plasma membrane

However, an artificial gene that contains only exons can be produced by using an enzyme called reverse transcriptase to synthe

size complementary DNA (cDNA) from an mRNA template

Proteomics is the science of determining all of the pro

teins expressed in a cell

The fragments are called RFLPs (pronounced "rif-lip"), for restric

tion fragment length polymorphisms

Genetically modified organisms intended for use in the environment (in agriculture, for example) may be engineered to contain "suicide genes"-genes that eventually turn on to produce a toxin that kills the microbes, thus ensur

ing that they will not survive in the environment for very long after they have accomplished their task

The safety issues in agricultural biotechnology are similar to those concerning chemical pesticides

toxicity to humans and to nonpest species