the manipulation of living things for a useful end product

for example: the domestication of plants and animals, use of organisms for medical purposes

genetic engineering is a type of modern biotechnology

genetic engineering happens immediately with the direct manipulation of genes - unlike domestication which happens over a length of time

DNA taken from two different sources

uses restriction enzymes that cut DNA at a restriction site with a specific N base sequence

the fragments have sticky ends which can bind to sticky ends of other fragments

DNA mismatch and mixup

enzymes that cut a specific point on the DNA at a very specific nitrogen base sequence

100s have been identified

first bound in bacteria in which they cut up foreign DNA from viruses 

they cut DNA at a restrition site with a specific N base sequence resulting in restriction fragments which can bind ends to other restriction fragments

if DNA from 2 sources is cut with the same restriction enzyme then they will have the same N bases on their sticky ends and can be put back together 

they are single stranded sections of DNA which can bind to the sticky ends of other fragments with complementary N base sequences 

2 ends from different sources can bind together to long as they have complementary base sequences

genomics is the study of genomes

genome - a complete amount of an organisms genes 

by use of plasmids 

plasmids are used as vectors to carry DNA into bacterial cells,

the host bacterial cell is then grown in a culture

and replicates, or reproduces, providing for protein and gene harvesting and research

collection of complementary DNA strands of extracted mRNA

cDNA libraries study cells at a certain stage of its life - for studying gene expression 

they only contain part of the genome - the set of genes that were being transcribed into mRNA at the time the mRNA was extracted 

What is the function of PCR?

polymerase chain reaction - allows to quickly and selectively amplify or make many copies of a section of DNA

requires only minute amounts of the original DNA

useful for extinct species such as wooly mammoth

1. denaturation of DNA
2. annealing of primers (cooling off primers)
3. extension of DNA - from free DNA nucleotides 

it detects differences in DNA

• to see how one gene differs from species to species helping us to understand evolutionary history
• to see if different alleles exist for a gene among people

gel electrophoresis separates charged molecules of different length by their migration through a gelatin slab to which an electrical field is applied 

short fragments move more quickly than long fragments towards the + end of the pole 

DNA is stained with dye

if DNA samples cut with the same restriction enzyme produce different patterns then that DNA came from a different source

to separate DNA molecules in order to distinguish differences between different lengths of fragmented DNA 

to determine things like the source, or carriers of a disease

DNA fragments are placed in wells of the gelatin slab to which the electrical field is applied

since DNA is - it will moved towards the + electrode

if DNA samples produce different band patterns then the DNA came from different sources

restriction fragment length polymorphisms 

referrs to the different restriction sides for a particular enzyme (from chromosomes of varying people) at non coding regions of homologous chromosomes 

• identify the order and location of all human genes
• sequence all 3.5 billion base pairs of the human genome
• store in databases, improve tools for data analysis and make data available for private and public sector

the number of human genes (20,488 with possibly 100 more to be discovered)

all human DNA is 99.9% identical (the .1 still being 3 million differences in N bases)

humans are genetically similar to other organisms such as chimps, mice, and yeast