Microbiology 7 Genetic engineering

Openstax

Genetic Engineering

Direct, deliberate modification of an organism's genome.

Bioengineering

The applied science that uses engineering principles to manipulate living organisms.

Biotechnology

Use of an organism's biochemical and metabolic pathways for industrial production.

DNA denaturation

The process where DNA is heated to separate its two strands.

Restriction endonuclease

An enzyme that recognizes specific sequences in DNA and breaks phosphodiester bonds.

RFLPs

Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms; variations in the length of restriction enzyme-cut DNA fragments.

Ligase

An enzyme that rejoins phosphate-sugar bonds cut by endonucleases.

Gel electrophoresis

A technique used to separate DNA fragments based on size.

Nucleic acid hybridization

The process of uniting single-stranded DNA or RNA with complementary sequences.

Southern blot method

A technique used to detect specific DNA sequences in samples by hybridization.

Reverse transcriptase

An enzyme that synthesizes DNA from an RNA template.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

A method to rapidly amplify DNA, increasing the amount of DNA in a sample.

Recombinant DNA technology

The intentional removal and combination of genetic material from different organisms.

Cloning vector

A DNA molecule used to carry foreign genetic material into another cell.

Transgenic organism

An organism that contains a gene or genes which have been artificially inserted instead of the same organism acquiring them through reproduction.

Gene therapy

A technique that modifies a person's genes to treat or prevent disease.

Short Tandem Repeats (STRs)

Sections of a chromosome in which DNA sequences are repeated.

Microarray analysis

A technique used to track the expression of thousands of genes in a single experiment.