10 Great Biological Discoveries

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2002

The EMBO Journal

Gene, 1986

Chromosoma, 1988

Journal of Aerosol Science, 1986

The American Journal of …, 1992

1.JD Watson, NH Hopkins, JW Roberts, JA Steitz and AM Weiner, Molecular biology of the gene (4th ed.), Benjamin Cummings Publishing Co, Redwood City, CA (1987). The textbook! Superbly written with unexcelled line drawings and illustrations. A delightful index (How a Frog Egg ...

International Journal for Parasitology, 2002

Plant Molecular Biology, 1984

Results obtained in the past few years in the study of the reaction mechanism of plant RNA polymerases are reviewed and discussed. They suggest that valuable information can be obtained using a highly simplified transcription system composed of purified plant enzymes and cloned genes. This type of approach may provide a starting point for the development of an in vitro transcription system. The detailed study of the fundamental enzymatic properties of the plant RNA polymerases allows a comparison with the well documented corresponding bacterial enzyme.

Concept: (Plasmid, engineering the plasmid, getting plasmid into the bacteria, screening the bacterial colonies, hybridization, making a probe, cloning and gene libraries.) Genetic Engineering or gene technology is a particular field of biotechnology which involves alteration of genetic constitution of cells or individuals (genetic manipulation) by the selective removal, insertion, or modification of individual gene sets. The product is thus obtained is recombinant DNA. (The term recombinant DNA refers to the creation of a new combination of DNA molecules that are not found together naturally.) Although human beings have altering the genetic makeup of organisms for centuries by selective breeding, only recently has the direct manipulation of DNA been possible. The deliberate modification of an organism's genetic information by directly changing its nucleic acid genome is called genetic engineering and is accompanied by a collection of methods known as recombinant DNA technology. The basic procedures involve a series of steps: 1. First, the DNA responsible for a particular phenotype is identified and purified from cells or tissues (isolation of gene). 2. Once purified, the gene(s) are fused with other pieces of DNA (mostly the plasmid) to form recombinant DNA(r DNA) molecules. 3. These are propagated (gene cloning) by insertion into an organism (the host cell) that need not even be in the same kingdom as the original gene donor. Within the host cell, the recombinant molecule replicates, producing dozens of identical copies known as clones. (Clones are identical organisms, cells, or molecules descended from a single ancestor.) 4. Production of expression vector (mostly an E. coli strain) for cloned gene to express the foreign gene where the cloned gene can be transcribed, its mRNA translated, and the gene product isolated and used for research, or sold commercially. In addition, DNA sequences up to about 100 bases long can now be chemically synthesized by entirely automated procedures. Recombinant DNA molecules thus can be produced containing either natural DNA fragments resulting from restriction-enzyme cleavage or any desired chemically synthesized mutant sequences. Thus it is an essential part of biotechnology, which is now experiencing a stage of exceptionally rapid growth and development. Although the term has several definitions, in

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1972