Biotechnology

Restriction Enzymes Ligase

Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism RFLP

Recombinant DNA

A team of researchers, led by Eric Poeschla of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine,  have come up with an adorable helper in the push to find a cure for HIV/AIDS: the kitten who glows green under UV light. This green-glowing kitten has had genetic material, green fluorescent protein to be exact, from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria fused with its own. So how does the green fluorescent protein help scientists in their research to find a cure?  It doesn’t directly, but it acts as a tracking mechanism that allows researchers to know that the kitten’s genetic material was successfully infused with not only the green-glow-gene, but also a gene called  TRIMCyp found in HIV-resistant rhesus macaque  monkeys.  Researchers hope that by infusing this genetic material with the cat’s own, they will create a “naturally” immunity to Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), which, like HIV in humans, causes AIDS in cats. HIV and FIV strip the immune system’s T-cells, necessary for fighting off infections (remember, AIDS isn’t the actual cause of death – it is usually caused by some minor infection, like the common cold, that is allowed to run rampant because the immune system is completely disabled).  There are key proteins called restriction factors that defend against viruses, but ours and cats’ can’t stand up to HIV/FIV.  The rhesus macaque monkey has a restriction factor, TRIMCyp, that is capable of  attacking and disabling the HIV/FIV’s outer shield as it tries to invade a cell. The research team has taken white blood cells from the genetically-altered cats, exposed them to FIV and found that they are immune.  

Figure 1. The Sanger sequencing reaction Figure 1. The Sanger sequencing reaction. Single stranded DNA is amplified in the presence of fluorescently labelled ddNTPs that serve to terminate the reaction and label all the fragments of DNA produced. The fragments of DNA are then separated via polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the sequence read using a laser beam and computer.

PCR

Synthetic DNA

RNAi

Expression vectors

Biosteel goats