applications Agriculture Plant breeding to improve resistance to pests, diseases, drought and salt conditions Mass propagation of plant clones Bioinsecticide development modification of plants to improve nutritional and processing characteristics Chemical Industry Production of bulk chemicals and solvents such as ethanol, citric acid, acetone and butanol Synthesis of fine specialty chemicals such as enzymes, amino acids, alkaloids and antibiotics

applications Medicine Development of novel therapeutic molecules for medical treatments Diagnostics Drug delivery systems Tissue engineering of replacement organs Gene therapy

applications Food Industry Production of bakers' yeast, cheese, yogurt and fermented foods such as vinegar and soy sauce Brewing and wine making Production of flavors and coloring agents Veterinary Practice Vaccine production Fertility control Livestock breeding

applications Environment Biological recovery of heavy metals from mine tailings and other industrial sources Bioremediation of soil and water polluted with toxic chemicals Sewage and other organic waste treatment

future of medicine smart drugs for cancer and autoimmune diseases (arthritis, psoriasis, diabetes) gene-based diagnostics and therapies pharmaco-genomics and personalised medicine stem cells and regenerative medicine health and longevity

the promise of biotech protein DNA drugs are so complex they can only be synthesized in a living system

cloning DNA Insert the DNA into plasmids Gene of interest is inserted into small DNA molecules known as plasmids, which are self-replicating, extrachromosomal genetic elements originally isolated from the bacterium, Escherichia coli. The circular plasmid DNA is opened using the same endonuclease that was used to cleave the genomic DNA.   Join the ends of DNA with the enzyme, DNA ligase. The inserted DNA is joined to the plasmid DNA using another enzyme, DNA ligase, to give a recombinant DNA molecule. The new plasmid vector contains the original genetic information for replication of the plasmid in a host cell plus the inserted DNA.

cloning DNA Introduce the new vector into host The new vector is inserted back into a host where many copies of the genetic sequence are made as the cell grows and divide with the replicating vector inside.   Isolate the newly-synthesized DNA or the protein coded for by the inserted gene. The host may even transcribe and translate the gene and obligingly produce product of the inserted gene. Alternatively, many copies of the DNA gene itself may be isolated for sequencing the nucleic acid or for other biochemical studies.

cloning DNA

cloning DNA

cloning DNA

cloning DNA

electrophoresis Miesfeld p. 19

electrophoresis Brown p. 74

electrophoresis Brown p. 74

If DNA is too large for conventional electrophoresis….