BIOL 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 15.1: Plasmid, Recombinant Dna, Polymerase Chain Reaction
Document Summary
Technologies designed to manipulate dna must have dna to work with. Three main sources of dna sequences are commonly used in research: i) ii) iii) Dna sequences can be extracted from the genome of cells (and viruses) using specialized enzymes. Dna can be synthesized from an mrna template by the reverse transcriptase enzyme. Dna sequences of choice can be created by automated chemical systems in the lab using a dna synthesizer responding to computer input. Once a dna sequence of choice has been obtained from nature or created artificially, the number of copies of the sequence can be increased dramatically. Remember: clone a line of genetically identical cells or individuals derived from a single ancestor. Cloned genes are used in basic research to find out about their biological functions. The key to dna cloning is the specific joining of two dna molecules from different sources, such as a genomic dna fragment and a bacterial plasmid.
