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 Biotechnology is the use of technological procedures in the field of biology for obtaining products of commercial importance. |
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 Biotechnology is the use of technological procedures in the field of biology for obtaining products of commercial importance. |
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 Biotechnology has two main aspects genetic engineering and tissue cultures. |
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 Genetic engineering is the in vitro manipulation of genes. It refers to artificial synthesis, modification, removal, addition and repair of the DNA of an organism so that its phenotype can be desirably modified. |
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 The most widely used technique in genetic engineering is called recombinant DNA technology. |
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 The technology involves the formation of a new DNA by combining the DNA of two different organisms, and its introduction into a new host. |
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 The technology requires certain biological tools such as passenger DNA, vehicle DNA and a set of enzymes. |
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 Passenger DNA is the DNA containing the desired gene, which needs to be introduced into a new host cell. |
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 Vehicle (vector) DNA is the DNA which carries the passenger DNA to the new host. It is usually the plasmid from bacterial or a bacteriophage. |
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 Various enzymes such as lyases, ligases, alkaline phosphates, reverse transcriptases and nucleases are used in the technology. |
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 The most widely used nucleases are the restriction endonucleases which can recognize specific sequences in the DNA molecule. |
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 Cloning of genes, cells and organisms is a common practice in biotechnology. |
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 Cell cloning brings about formation of a cluster of genetically identical cells. |
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 Gene cloning refers to the production of a large population of a DNA fragment in a pure form. |
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 Gene cloning has found its application in the field of medicine, and agriculture. |
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 The technique of creating multiple copies of the genes, of an organism, is called gene library. |
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 In the recent years attempts have been made to clone organisms like frogs, rats, sheep, monkeys and even human beings. |
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 DNA finger printing is a technique by which the nucleotide sequence of the DNA of an organism is obtained on a gel. The DNA finger print is unique to each individuals. |
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 DNA finger printing technique is presently extensively used in the field of forensic science. |
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 Newer techniques are being developed by which it is possible for the scientists to create designer plants and animals. Such organism are called genetically modified organisms. |
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