Download Biotechnology Key Terms and Concepts

Biotechnology Key Terms and Concepts
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I. Biotechnology
A. Definition-use of organisms to perform
practical tasks for humans
B. Much of biotechnology deals with
analyzing and manipulating genomes
of organisms at the molecular level
(DNA technology)
C. Genome-complete set of an organism’s
genetic material
D. Human genome project– a project
aimed at sequencing the human
genome and identifying its genes
E. Recombinant DNA technologytechnology that combines genes from
different sources into a single DNA
molecule
II. Some basic tools of biotechnology
A. Bacteria-used to mass produce
desired genes and proteins
B. Plasmids
1.“Extra” DNA that bacteria
often carry
2.Can be manipulated to move foreign
genes into bacteria
C. Restriction enzymes
1.Molecular “scissors”
2.Can cut DNA into small pieces
D. Nucleic acid probe-radioactively
labeled nucleic acid molecule used to
tag a specific DNA sequence
III. Examples of biotechnology
A. Cloning-a technique used to achieve
a population of genetically identical
cells produced from a single cell.
Cloning is how scientists make a
genetic duplicate of an organism.
Cloning has the potential to mass
produce an animal with a desirable
set of traits.
B. Genetic engineering-any type of
alteration in the genetic make-up of
an organism.
1. Humans create genetically
modified plants and animals
(GMOs) for a variety of reasons.
including increased nutrition and
pest resistance
2. Transgenic-an organism that has
genes from more than one species
due to genetic modification
C. Gel Electrophoresis
1. Process used to separate different
DNA segments
2. Restriction enzymes cut DNA into
short and long fragments.
Fragments are then pulled along a
gel for a certain time period.
3. DNA fingerprint- a person’s
unique banding pattern on an
electrophoresis gel based upon the
restriction fragments of their DNA