Recombinant DNA Lab Summary

In this lab, we simulated creating recombinant DNA. Recombinant DNA is DNA from one organism that is inserted into the DNA of another organism. DNA is usually inserted into the plasmid of a bacteria. To do this, you need to gene you want to insert, the bacteria, and the antibiotic it is resistant to, a restriction enzyme, and the enzyme ligase. The restriction enzyme you need has to be an enzyme that matches the restriction site. We used the enzyme Hpa II, because it cut the plasmid once, and it cut the insulin gene above and below the gene as close to the gene as possible. It should only cut the plasmid once, because if it cut it twice, then the plasmid would turn into 2 separate pieces of DNA. When the DNA is cut, it will create sticky ends which can attach to the sticky ends of the other piece of DNA.

Sticky Ends on a sequence of DNA.

The enzyme ligase attaches the sticky ends of the gene to the sticky ends of the plasmid to make the plasmid a circle again. After you re-insert the new plasmid into the bacteria, you put it in a petri dish with the antibiotic it is resistant to, in our simulation, out bacteria was resistant to the antibiotic tetracycline. This ensures that the only bacteria  in the dish is the one that you put the recombinant DNA into. The bacteria will multiply, and all the bacteria will have the gene and create insulin. This is how insulin is created for people with diabetes. Recombinant DNA has also been used to make certain fish glow, and is a part of many other parts of our lives, such as being in many foods we eat. Many crops are resistant to herbicides and insects, which comes from recombinant DNA. Scientists have recently found a way to create self healing materials from jellyfish DNA.