Recombinant DNA

the complete mapping and understanding of all the genes of human beings. All our genes together are known as our “genome.”The genes are examined, and their bases described, researchers have to translate what their order means. A genome is the entire DNA in an organism, including its expressed genes. These genes carry the codes for making all the proteins the organism requires. These proteins determine everything from how the organism looks to how it behaves. The human genome consists of 50,000…

Introduction Plasmids, circular pieces of DNA that can replicate independently from the host cell’s DNA, have been extensively used to transform cells in biological research to study the effects of particular genes of interest (Lau et al., 2013). A plasmid’s basic components include a replication origin, a DNA marker, and a multiple cloning site, which are sufficient for the plasmid to replicate itself and help the transformed cell to exhibit characteristics indicating successful transformation…

brought forth because of what genetic engineering is now capable of. It is now possible to essentially snip out part of a person’s genome and replace it with a more desirable gene. This is possible through molecular cloning to create a DNA sequence or by synthesizing the DNA and then inserting into the organism. This procedure has been done to many children to save them from chronic…

A GMO is the alteration of genetic makeup of organisms. By using segments from different sources ( such as animals, plants, microorganisms etc.), it produces recombinant DNA. Canada and the U.S have allowed GMOs, however GMO are not safe for human consumption. A study has proven that GMOs lead to gluten disorders, which affects 18 million Americans. This means that gluten allergies have been increasing since the introduction of GMO’s. An example of an advantage is that GMO’s is that it could…

Plasmids are extra chromosomal DNA within some bacteria that exist as circular structures. Although they are not essential for survival of the bacterium, they often do confer many environment advantages such as antibiotic resistance. One bacteria of interest is E. coli, a gram-negative organism that is part of normal human gut flora. Some strains of E. coli are pathologic to humans, however some strains are beneficial. For example, one strain produces vitamin K, an essential nutrient. In this…

What comes to mind when someone asks “What is biology”? Do you think of tiny cells spread throughout your entire body helping you stay alive, your DNA, or maybe plants? Biology is simply the study of living organisms. We learn by studying where living organisms come, from, where it has been, who or what were its ancestors, what it has used as food and even if there are any diseases or degenerations present. Biology helps us treat diseases, create vaccines, aid in better nutrition and has even…

discipline, then it could be catastrophic for the welfare of everyone. In 1975, a group of 140 scientists and researchers met to discuss safety concerns and ethical considerations of the growing genetic modifications at the International Conference on Recombinant DNA Molecules in Asilomar, California( Photos from Asilomar…, n.d.). The scientists wanted to regulate what organisms could be modified. In order to do this, they implemented safety standards that allowed this research to only continue…

Protein-protein interaction can be defined as the interactions between different protein molecules within the cellular organization leading to formation of large protein complex which is modulated by non-covalent interactions such as hydrophobic interaction, hydrogen bond, van der Waals interactions etc. Protein-protein interaction plays an important role in functioning of body’s significant mechanism such as replication, transcription, translation, signal transduction, cell cycle, etc. Thus,…

Watson, an American geneticist; Francis Crick, a British molecular biologist, and Maurice Wilkins, an English physicist and molecular biologist. The three worked together and achieved a significant impact on biotechnology in terms of the discovery of DNA structure (the double helix), and therefore they had been awarded Nobel Prize in 1962 (Watson, 1968). Their research and subsequent major discoveries…

DNA. Arguably the most exalted three letters from all of biology, on par with the prevalent H20 of chemistry and Einstein’s e=mc^2 of physics. We’ve all heard of this three letter acronym, perhaps tried to spell the full deoxyribonucleic acid once or twice. But we don’t often consider how just one letter mistake, one wrong copy of a gene, a tiny error in this code of life, may have drastic effects on the health of a human. What if we could alter some genes, fix up a few there, go into the…