BIOLOGY 1A03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Nylon, Autoradiograph, Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIOLOGY 1A03
• Professor: Roger Jacobs

Document Summary

Genetic engineering- efforts to manipulate dna sequences in organisms. Became possible after the discovery of bacterial enzymes that cut dna at specific sites. And enzymes that paste dna sequences together. Recombinant dna technology- techniques used to engineer genes. Goals of genetic engineering are: improve our understanding of how genes work. 1: advance biotechnology the manipulation of organism to create products or cure disease. Gene therapy the introduction of normal alleles to cure genetic defects. Using recombinant dna techniques to manufacture proteins: the effort to cure pituitary dwarfism. Pituitary dwarfism- people who produces little growth hormone or none; defective copies of gh1. Growth hormone- molecule; 191 amino acids; gene that codes for this protein gh1. Pituitary dwarfism, type 1 is an autosomal recessive trait. Prions- an infections protein that is thought to cause disease by inducing other proteins to assumed an abnormal 3 d structure. Likely cause of spongiform encephalopahties, such as mad cow disease.