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   GENETIC ENGINEERING:
Page 1

Teachers, Students, Home School Scholars, and Inquiring Minds of all ages --

This web page discusses some of the tools that are used Genetic Engineering experiments.  These tools are marvels that are either existing in nature already, or take advantage of natural properties of living organisms.

One of the most useful tools used by scientists are naturally occurring enzymes that cut at specific nucleotide sequences along a DNA strand.  Scientists call these enzymes 'molecular scissors' because of their useful properties.  This class of enzymes is able to recognize specific sequences of nucleotides along the DNA and cut the DNA in those specific sites.  With these enzymes, scientists can cut out sections of DNA that contain genes of interest and insert them into cells which will then be used to produce large quantities of the protein coded for by that gene.  This is used by pharmaceutical companies to produce human insulin for the treatment of diabetes.

Another technique is used to produce entire organisms by inserting an intact cellular nucleus into a host cell.  This is how Dolly the sheep was created.

GENETIC ENGINEERING:  Page 1

Genetic Engineering Links of choice:
Biochemistry - genetic manipulation (textbook by Berg, Tymoczko, and Lubert) on the National Institutes of Health website
Wikipedia - genetic engineering
DNA From the Very Beginning - concept = genetic engineering

Learn more! Google:
cell science projects
homework help
animal cells
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