Cloning and its importane

                        Process of Cloning

Process of Cloning

Molecular Cloning is one way of studying the specific proteins involved in cell division. A gene contains the instructions for how to make a protein. By mutating a gene, the protein’s shape, size and function could all be affected. Mutating a gene changes its instructions. Once a mutated gene is created and incorporated into a cell’s DNA, the cell replicates, creating many cells containing the mutant gene. The cells with the changed gene can then be compared to normal cells.

Below are the steps involved to both make a mutant gene and incorporate it into the DNA of a human cell:

1. Chemically "cut" the gene you want to study from the DNA strand
   
   
2. Attach target gene to a small, circular piece of DNA.Together, this is called a plasmid, which serves as the vehicle for transporting the gene.
   
   
3. Put the plasmid into an E. coli cell (or another type of bacteria). As each E. coli cell divides, each new cell contains a copy of the plasmid containing the gene.
   
   

4. Grow a lot of E. coli cells
   
   
5. Once your E. coli population has reached your desired number of cells, break apart the E. Coli cells using a chemical that dissolves the cell wall.
   
   
6. Filter the mixture of broken E. coli cells and collect only the plasmids containing the gene.
   
   
7. Put the plasmids into human cells. The type of cell varies depending on the research.
   
   
8. Over time, the plasmid will be incorporated into the host cell DNA and the new gene will change the proteins produced.
   
   
9. Observe physical changes between the cells with the plasmid and those without.

Why is Cloning Important?

Molecular Cloning allows scientists to not only discover the what proteins are present and their function, but also explore what happens in a cell when these proteins are changed. When studying cell division, specifically, scientists look for proteins that control the beginning and end of division. Using the recombinant DNA (containing the both the human cell DNA and the cloned plasmid), scientists can direct the replication within the human cells.
By manipulating cells with cloning and learning more about specific proteins, scientists can take their research and apply it to larger-sale research endeavors like diseases and pathogens.

It is important to note, however, that cloning is not used to study just proteins involved in the cell cycle. Molecular cloning has led scientists to discover the entire genetic sequences of many different species, inactivate genes in both humans and other organisms, and create transgenic organisms like herbicide resistant plants and glow-in-the-dark fish!

You can see that these tropical fish give off a slight glow because they have been marked with the same fluorescence that is native to some species of jellyfish.

Here, we see an image in which
the first two columns contain
petunias, each resistant to a specific,
but different antibiotic. In the third
column, the two antibiotic resistant
genes were added to the plant's genome
to produce a transgenic plant that is
resistant to both antibiotics.

One example of a specific type of protein that is researched using Molecular Cloning are Histones, which will be explored on the next page.