Biotechnology vocabulary

Restriction Enzyme

Proteins used to cleave or cut DNA

Plasmid

small, circular piece of DNA located in the cytoplasm of many bacteria

Recombinant DNA

DNA produced by combining DNA from different sources

Transgenic

organism whose genome has been altered to contain one or more genes from another organism or species

Genetically Modified Organism

An organism whose genetic material has been altered through some genetic engineering technology or technique.

Gel Electrophoresis

The separation of nucleic acids or proteins, on the basis of their size and electrical charge, by measuring their rate of movement through an electrical field in a gel.

Vector

tool used to introduce genes into an organism

Virus

commonly used as vectors to deliver genes into an organism

in vivo

inside a living thing

ex vivo

outside a living thing

Gene Therapy

a technique that places a gene into a cell to correct a hereditary disease or to improve the genome

Karyotype

A display of the chromosome pairs of a cell arranged by size and shape.

Somatic Cell

any cell of a living organism other than the reproductive cells.

Autosome

Any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome

Down Syndrome

Trisomy 21

Klinefelter syndrome

A chromosomal disorder in which males have an extra X chromosome, making them XXY instead of XY.

Turner Syndrome

A chromosomal disorder in females in which either an X chromosome is missing, making the person XO instead of XX, or part of one X chromosome is deleted.

Clone

An organism that is genetically identical to the organism from which it was produced

Enucleate

remove the nucleus from a cell

Gene

A segment of DNA on a chromosome that codes for a specific trait