What Is Recombinant DNA?

• The term recombinant DNA refers to DNA from one type of organism that has been inserted into another. Researchers apply this technology to a variety of organisms, from bacteria to humans. The source of the DNA and its eventual host need not be the same. Scientists can insert human genes into bacteria or jellyfish genes into rabbits. Recombinant DNA technology is also known by the term genetic engineering, because researchers can engineer virtually any combination of traits using this technology.
  
  

How Do You Make Recombinant DNA?

• Creating a recombinant organism requires a fairly complex process, but it can be boiled down into a few simple precepts. First, the laboratory technician must open up the DNA from the host organism. This is accomplished using chemicals called restriction enzymes, which open up the DNA at a specified point. Next, the technician engineers the new gene that's to be inserted so that its ends match up with the places on the DNA cut open by the restriction enzyme. A second enzyme known as DNA ligase glues the pieces together to make one whole strand of DNA. With the new gene is in place, the host organism doesn't know the difference between its old genes and its new ones.
  
  

What Is Recombinant DNA Used For?

• Recombinant DNA has many practical applications and some impractical ones. Scientists have added jellyfish genes to rabbits and bacteria just to say they made glow-in-the-dark organisms. At the same time, many world-changing possibilities are emerging from the field of recombinant DNA. Bacteria now produce human insulin, so diabetics no longer must rely on pig insulin. Plants can produce bioplastics or be engineered to be resistant to herbicides, pesticides and even insects. Researchers can create mammals that produce desired products in their breast milk, like clotting factors for hemophiliacs. And humans can actually have bad genes deleted and replaced with new ones using gene therapy. This burgeoning science has its sights set on curing many disorders and eradicating bad genes from existence.