Apple Molecular Biology
DNA cloning into plasmid vectors
Directions
1. Go to the Apple Genomics website at www.four-h.purdue.edu/apple_genomics
2. Click on the link Apple Molecular Biology.
3. Click on the link Cloning.
4. After reading the introduction click on the animation to learn more about cloning.
5. Then complete the review questions on this worksheet using what you learned from the reading and animation.
Cloning and Replication
Cloning can mean several things. Most people associate cloning with 'copying'. In molecular biology, cloning can be a process of recreating individuals from their own DNA but a more common use of cloning refers to the insertion of a short piece of DNA into a bacterial plasmid for replication purposes. In the popular media, cloning focuses on making sheep or dogs from cells of their parent self.
The second animation describes how DNA fragments are inserted into the plasmid DNA, and how the bacteria are used to grow to form a colony of identical cells, all that contain recombinant plasmids from each gene being studied.
Key Terms:
Define the following key terms that were discussed in the reading and or the animation.
1. Restriction Enzymes
2. Plasmid
3. Ligase
4. Agar
5. Recombinant Plasmid
What Did You Learn?
Answer the following questions using complete sentences.
6. In the reading and animation you learned that cloning can mean several things. Summarize some of the different definitions of cloning.
7. Explain why it is easier for scientists to study smaller fragments of an organisms genome, than the genome as a whole?
8. Draw and Describe. Special proteins called restriction enzymes are used to break genomic DNA into smaller parts. Draw and label a diagram to explain this process.
9. Describe the role that plasmids play in the replication process.
10. When used together recombinant plasmids and bacteria are very useful tools for scientists. Explain how scientists use these tools to speed up genomic research?