DNA, the Blueprint for Life

An organism’s DNA contains all the information necessaryto “build” it up from scratch.

But what if you change it?

You might get something very different!FYI, this fellow is not genetically modified, he’s just had a lot of tattoos and surgery.

Genetic Engineering

Genetic Engineering is the science of changing the DNAto produce organisms with new characteristics.

A bit scary, but exciting, too. Here are some examples...

Make glowing tobacco plants!

Make glowing fish!

Make pigs that produce human hemoglobin!

Make “roundup ready” soybeans!

Make flying pigs!

Okay, maybe not the flying pigs.You get the idea, though.

So, in the proud tradition of making random things glow…

• We’re going to genetically modify some bacteria.

• But first, a bit of review concerning bacterial genes.

DNA in Bacteria• Bacteria have DNA in two

forms:1. Bacterial DNA-this accounts

for most of the DNA in the bacteria, and everything that is essential for normal function.

2. Plasmids-these are small rings of DNA (1-400 kbp), that can replicate on their own, and be transferred from one bacterium to another. They usually confer an evolutionary advantage (ie. antibiotic resistance).

Uses of Plasmids• Plasmids are a popular tool

of molecular biologists because:

1. Their small size makes them easy to understand and manipulate.

2. They reproduce multiple times in single bacterium, so you can make a lot of the genes you want just by doing a culture, and then remove them later with restriction enzymes.

Your Mission…

• Today, you will genetically modify bacteria, so that their plasmids contain a pGlo gene, taken from jellyfish.

• This gene will cause them to fluoresce under UV light.

Your Mission…

• Today, you will genetically modify bacteria, so that their plasmids contain a pGlo gene, taken from jellyfish.

• This gene will cause them to fluoresce under UV light.