Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering, recombinant DNA (r-DNA) technology and gene cloning all name the same underlying idea: a collective term for the various laboratory protocols that modify DNA and move it from one organism into another. It is worth being precise about how this differs from 'conventional recombination' - the natural exchange of genetic material between homologous chromosomes that happens during meiosis in every sexually reproducing organism, and which this chapter's earlier unit already covered. Recombinant DNA technology is that same basic idea of genetic recombination, but performed artificially, deliberately, and outside the constraints of what any two organisms could naturally interbreed to produce. Because the DNA fragment being transferred needs to physically enter a target cell, the technique depends on a delivery method: either a biological carrier called a vector, or a purely physical/chemical instrument such as electroporation, a gene gun, …