Biology Module 6 section 4- Manipulating genomes

PCR- Polymerase Chain Reaction

Used to select a fragment of DNA- Containing the gene you interested in and amplifying it to produce millions of copies

Primers

short pieces of dna complementary to bases at the start and end of the fragment to show what part of dna you want copied

DNA polymerase

enzyme used to synthesize new strands of dna- is thermostable

palindromic sequences

sections of dna where sequences have antiparallel base pairs- also known as recognition sequences

restriction enzymes

aka restriction endonucleases, they recognise palindromic sequences and cut dna at these sequences, different restriction enzymes cut at different sequences because they have complementary active sites to the palindromic sequence cut

sticky ends

small tails of unpaired bases at each end of fragment- they can be used to bind DNA fragments to another part of dna with complementary sticky ends

Electrophoresis

process using electrical currents to separate dna fragments of proteins depending on size

genetic engineering

manipulating of an organisms dna

transformed organisms

organisms that have altered dna by genetic engineering

recombinant dna (rDNA)

DNA formed by joining together DNA from different sources

Transgenic organism

An organism genetically engineered to include a gene from a different species

vector DNA

Something used to transfer DNA into a cell

plasmids

small, circular molecules of DNA in a bacteria

bacterophages

viruses that infect bacteria

dna ligase

enzyme that joins sugar-phosphate backbones of the 2 bits of DNA in a process called ligation

host cells

the bacterial cells which the recombinant dna is transferred into

electroporation

technique using electroporator, electrical field increases the permeability of the bacterial cell membrane and allows them to intake the plasmid

technological transfer

sharing of knowledge, skills and technology

genetic disorders

inherited disorders caused by abnormal genes or chromosomes

gene therapy

altering alleles inside cells to cure genetic disorders, there are 2 types

somatic gene therapy

Type of gene therapy, involves altering alleles in body cells, particularly affected ones, it doesnt affect sex cells , disease could still be inherited by offspring

germ line therapy

altering alleles in sex cells, every cell of offspring produced by cells will be affected by gene therapy and wont inherit disease, illegal in humans

chain termination method

method of dna sequencing, one of 1st methods to determine order of bases in section of DNA

Bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs)

mad made plasmids

High-throughput sequencing

Technique that can sequence a lot faster than original methods and cheaper, e.g. pyrosequencing

Synthetic biology

Includes building biological systems from artificially made molecules e.g. proteins, redesigning biological systems and designing new ones

computational biology

using computers to study biology

bioinformatics

developing and using computer software that can analyse, organise and store biological data

epidemiology

study of health and disease in a population