Notes from a Biology teacher to accompany a web quest and unit on DNA technologies and several applications for many of them.

1. DNA Technology and its
Applications
Some notes adapted from
S. Livingstone

2. Practical applications of
recombinant DNA…
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Recombinant Vaccines (ie. Hepatitis B)
Prevention and cure of sickle cell anemia
Prevention and cure of cystic fibrosis
Production of clotting factors
Production of insulin
Production of recombinant pharmaceuticals
Germ line and somatic gene therapy

3. Another Major Application of
Recombinant DNA
Using the technology of recombinant DNA,
we are able to introduce specific genes
from one organism into another.
A transgenic organism is an organism that
has been genetically engineered to
contain 1 or more genes

4. Applications of Transgenic Organisms
 Transgenic Livestock
 Farm animals that are genetically altered to
synthesize marketable proteins.
 Mice that urinate human growth hormone (HGH)
 Goats that produce the malaria antigen for use in
vaccines
 Cows that produce a human protein in their milk
 Pigs that are genetically altered so their organs
can be transplanted into a human without rejection

5. Applications of Transgenic Organisms
 Transgenic Plants
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Plants that produce their own insecticides
Crops that have increased drought and heat
resistance

6. Genetic Engineering is…
 The technique of removing, modifying, or
adding genes to a DNA molecule in order
to change the information it contains. By
changing this information, genetic
engineering changes the type or amount
of proteins an organism is capable of
producing, thus enabling it to make new
substances or perform new functions.

7. Genetically Modified Organisms
(GMO)
 Often, the label GMO and the term
"transgenic" are used to refer to
organisms that have acquired novel genes
from other organisms by laboratory "gene
transfer" methods.

8. What are the practical applications
of gel electrophoresis?
 DNA fragments produced by the gel
electrophoresis can be used in other
technologies like PCR, cloning and DNA
sequencing
 Or, the DNA fragments can be used by
forensic scientists, conservation biologists,
taxonomists, evolutionary biologists, etc.

9. How is gel electrophoresis used by
scientists?
 Human DNA can be analyzed to
 Provide evidence in criminal cases
 Diagnose genetic diseases
 Solve paternity cases
 Samples of DNA can be obtained from tissue
and body fluid
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Cheek cells
Skin
Hair
Blood
Semen

10. What are the practical applications
of gel electrophoresis?
 Conservation biologists use DNA to
determine genetic similarity among
populations and individuals
 Taxonomists use DNA to help distinguish
species
 Evolutionary biologists use DNA profiles to
compare similarities and differences to
construct family trees

11. What are the practical applications of
PCR?
 PCR creates high amounts of pure DNA,
enabling analysis of DNA samples even
from very small amounts of starting
material to be used in other DNA
technologies.

12. What are the practical applications of
gene therapy?
 potential to eliminate and prevent hereditary diseases such as
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Cystic fibrosis
hemophilia
heart disease,
AIDS
cancer
**There's a fair amount of risk involved in trials of this kind of therapy, and to
date, only children who are seriously ill or have illnesses incurable by
conventional means have been involved in clinical trials using gene therapy.