Genetic engineering

Goals

1. To understand a few of the more important genetic technologies

2. To understand why people want to do genetic engineering

3. To understand what the implications of genetic engineering are for our lives

Outline:

Recombinant DNA

What is it?

How do you do it?

1. cut up DNA from source organism with a restriction enzyme
2. insert DNA into a bacterial plasmid
3. insert plasmid into bacterium
4. grow bacteria and screen for recombinants
5. grow cultures of recombinant bacteria

Why do it?

• genomic libraries (research)
• production of transgeneic organisms
  • gene products from bacteria
  • GEMs
  • transgenic crops and animals
  • gene therapy

Other technologies to produce transgenic organisms

• gene guns
• Agrobacterium tumifaciens (plants)
• retroviruses (animals)

PCR (polymerase chain reaction)

in vitro DNA amplification

allows rapid, production of copies of specific portions of a genome

RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis

restriction enzymes are used to cut up genomes

the assortment of fragments that results is unique to an individual

can be used a "DNA fingerprints" to identify individuals, determine paternity, etc.

DNA sequencing

determination of the actual sequence of base-pairs of a gene

many applications

Human Genome Project

the complete mapping and sequencing of the human genome

 

Vocabulary

click here to go to genetic engineering vocabulary