Grade 12 Biology - Genetic Technologies

Diabetes mellitus

A disease in which the blood glucose level is too high because of the insufficient production or activity of the hormone insulin

Type 1 diabetes

a type of diabetes caused by an inability to produce insulin

Type 2 diabetes

a type of diabetes caused by low insulin or an inability to use insulin

Genetic engineering

The intentional production of new genes and alteration of genomes by the substitution or introduction of new genetic material

Recombinant DNA

a DNA strand that is created using DNA pieces from two or more sources

Restriction enzyme

an enzyme that cuts DNA at a specific location in a base sequence; also called restriction endonuclease

Recognition site

a sequence of bases on a DNA strand that restriction enzymes bind to

Restriction fragment

A fragment that is produced when a DNA strand is cut by a restriction enzyme

Blunt end

The end that remains after restriction enzymes cut straight across a DNA strand; a blunt end is more difficult than a sticky end to recombine with another strand

Sticky end

the end that remains after restriction enzymes cut on a zigzag cross a DNA strand; a sticky end of a DNA fragment can form hydrogen bonds with a complementary sticky end on any other DNA molecule that has been cut by the same enzyme

Competent cell

a cell that is able to take up foreign DNA from its surroundings

Vector

a DNA molecule that is used as a vehicle to transfer foreign genetic material into a cell, for example, a plasmid

Copy number

the number of plasmids of a specific type within a cell

Host Cell

A cell that has taken up a foreign plasmid or virus and has used its cellular machinery to express the foreign DNA

Cloned gene

An identical copy of an original target gene that can be made by introducing the target gene into a host cell and having it copied

Restriction map

a diagram that shows restriction enzyme recognition sites and the distances, measured in base pairs(bp), between the sites

hybridization probe

a fragment of DNA that is used to detect the presence of complementary nucleotide sequences

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

a process that is used to make a huge number of copies of a DNA sequence in a laboratory, quickly and without the need for a host organism

DNA primer

a short single-stranded DNA sequence, easily synthesized in a laboratory, that is complementary to a sequence at one end of the target sequence

whole-genome shotgun method

a DNA sequencing method that involves blowing DNA strands into many fragments and then using computer technology to sequence and reassemble the fragments

Structural genomics

the study of the structure of genes and their locations in a genome, as well as the analysis of the nucleotide sequences to locate genes within the genome