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Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Biotechnology

Overview Genetic engineering is the process of modifying an organism’s DNA to introduce new, desirable traits. Many organisms, from bacteria to …
Overview Researchers use antibiotic resistance genes to identify bacteria that possess a plasmid containing their gene of interest. Antibiotic resistance …
Overview Scientists create recombinant DNA by combining DNA from different sources—often, other species—in the laboratory. DNA cloning allows …
Overview Transgenic organisms are genetically engineered to carry transgenes—genes from a different species—as part of their genome. The …
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that divide and produce more stem cells or progenitor cells that differentiate into mature, specialized cell types. …
Embryonic stem (ES) cells are undifferentiated pluripotent cells, meaning they can produce any cell type in the body. This gives them tremendous potential …
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that divide and produce different types of cells. Ordinarily, cells that have differentiated into a specific cell …
To learn more about the function of a gene, researchers can observe what happens when the gene is inactivated or “knocked out,” by creating …
DNA from cells is required for many biotechnology and research applications, such as molecular cloning. To remove and purify DNA from cells, researchers …
Gene therapy is a technique where a gene is inserted into a person’s cells to prevent or treat a serious disease. The added gene may be a healthy …
Reproductive cloning is the process of producing a genetically identical copy—a clone—of an entire organism. While clones can be produced by …
Genome editing technologies allow scientists to modify an organism’s DNA via the addition, removal, or rearrangement of genetic material at specific …
Overview Only genes that are transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA) are active, or expressed. Scientists can, therefore, extract the mRNA from cells to …

PCR

Overview The polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, is a widely used technique for copying segments of DNA. Due to exponential amplification, PCR can produce …
Genomics is the science of genomes: it is the study of all the genetic material of an organism. In humans, the genome consists of information carried in …
Cancer therapies which are less toxic and invasive than their existing counterparts are highly desirable. The use of RF electric-fields that penetrate …
Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) hold great promise for regenerative medicine and biopharmaceutical applications. Currently, optimal culture and …
The ever growing amount of new substances released onto the market and the limited predictability of current in vitro test systems has led to a high need …
Electrospinning, due to its versatility and potential for applications in various fields, is being frequently used to fabricate nanofibers. Production of …
Here, we present chimera assembly by plasmid recovery and restriction enzyme site insertion (CAPRRESI). CAPRRESI benefits from many strengths of the …
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is quickly revolutionizing how research into the genetic determinants of constitutional disease is performed. The …
The outlined protocol describes streamlined methods for the efficient and cost-effective generation of Cas9-associated guide RNAs. Two alternative …