Bio 112 Biotechnology Unit 2

Biotechnology

• manipulation of DNA

• Restriction enzymes -

When working with DNA, we rarely need the entire sequence

We can cut out specific sequences with restriction enzymes

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Process of making many copies of DNA for analysis

Gel Electrophoresis

• Electricity is used to separate DNA fragments of different sizes

• DNA is negatively charged - moves towards the positive end of the electrophoresis chamber

• Small fragments move faster than large fragments

Bacterial Transformation

• Plasmids are small self-replicating circular DNA molecules

• Recombinant plasmid - contains additional genes from another source

DNA Sequencing

• Fluorescent markers are added to PCR

• The fragments are then separated by size

• The order of colors from the markers are recorded; each color representing a different base