Q.Name the chemicals used in gene transfer.

The two principal chemicals used to enable gene transfer are calcium chloride, which makes bacterial cells competent, and polyethylene glycol, which enables direct DNA uptake by protoplasts.

Working

Getting foreign/recombinant DNA into a recipient cell (transformation) is a critical step in genetic engineering, and specific chemicals are used to make this possible:

1. Calcium chloride (CaCl2) -- when bacterial cells (such as E. coli) are treated with an ice-cold CaCl2 solution, their cell wall/membrane becomes more permeable, putting the cells into a "competent" state. A subsequent brief heat shock (typically at 42 deg C) then allows recombinant plasmid DNA in the surrounding medium to enter the competent cells through transiently opened pores. …