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'Genetic Engineering'
- Genetic engineering is the popular term for the more accurate 'Recombinant DNA
Technology'.
- The actual introduction of recombinant DNA technology into real life applications
can not be attributed to a single discovery, however, it is rather an accumulation of
different theories and ideas over a long period of time.
- Of course it returns back to1944 when scientists working in Rockefeller institute
in USA showed that inheritance depends on nucleic acid as a carrier of genetic
information and not protein as previously thought. Then, it was followed by the
breakthrough of Watson and Crick in 1953 who identified the DNA structure as a
double helix based on x-ray diffraction studies. In 1961, scientists start their trials to
know the “rule” controlling information storage in the DNA which was solved later on
by identification of the 'triplet codes' which means that each sequence of 3
nitrogenous bases in the DNA determines the formation of 1 amino acid and by
1966, the triplet codes of the existing 20 amino acids were established.
In 1970,
joiningtogetheritsbasepairs.
- Exist naturally in bacterial cells which use them to protect themselves against
any invasion by foreign DNA from different strain.
- The host DNA is not cleaved by its “own” enzyme because the DNA sites
susceptible to be cut by the enzyme are protected by “Methylation” which is
done by another enzyme which is also included in each bacterial cell.
.
*An example: EcoRI enzyme:
E: 1st initial of the genus, Escherichia.
- Some enzymes, although obtained from different organisms, still can cleave the
same site such as [HindIII & HsuI] or recognise the same nucleotide sequence,
but cut at 2 different sites within that sequence such as (XmaI & SmaI) and are [in
both cases] called 'Isoschizomers'.
- Due to the complementary nature of the base pairing
in DNA molecules, a restriction endonuclease enzyme ---G AATTC---
will cut both strands of the DNA molecules. ---CTTAA G--
*Recognition sequence
- There are 2 types of cut ends; either 'sticky' or 'blunt'
[GATTC] and
according to the type of the enzyme.
*cutting site [between G
& A] of EcoRI enzyme,
- The sticky 'cohesive' ends are so called because the producing 'sticky ends'.
- Many of them are called Palindromic; that is, the sequence on one strand
reads the same in the same direction [from 5’ to 3’, or 3’ to 5’] on the
complementary strand.
- The process of inserting a target DNA fragment into a foreign vector DNA is
called Ligation and is done by using an enzyme called 'DNA ligase'.
- There are several types of DNA ligase as T4 DNA ligase which can link DNA
molecules even those with blunt ends, however, such 'blunt-ended ligation' is less
stable than 'sticky-ended ligation' as the later can occur naturally by hydrogen
bonding between complementary bases 'annealing' before stabilization with the
DNA ligase which catalyses bonds between ends of the DNA molecules.
References:
* Books:
- Alan E.H. Emery and Sue Malcolm (1995) An Introduction to Recombinant DNA
in Medicine, 2nd edition. Wiley : Chichester, England.