A Butterfly and Biotechnology

Hi, Wish you a very happy day! Let all you researches result only in success! J You know, I’m learning cloning, wow, rhyming it is, learning – cloning! Like this rhythm, cloning is also fun! Yes, fun, interesting! Let me share with you, what I know about cloning. The first step of any cloning experiment would be selecting a vector. Now, I’m learning cloning using plasmid as a vector. So, you have to choose a vector for cloning at first. Vector is nothing; it’s just a plasmid DNA into which we can incorporate our gene of interest and transform the vector into a host which will produce the protein coded by our gene of interest. Vector need not be only p-DNA, viruses could also be used as vector. But, here, we are going to have an overview of cloning using Plasmid vector. Okay, we had selected the vector, let us assume. What next? We have to look at our gene of interest now. We have to get the sequence of our gene of interest – it’s available in databases lik...

We all know that we can cut and engineer our DNA or DNA of any other organism. But, so far the methods used for DNA cutting are not precise. Available techniques: By the older method, the genes are added into the cell and they get inserted into the genome of the cell in a random manner. This can’t be used when our aim is to engineer the DNA at a specific site and here we can’t also replace the already existing gene with our gene. There is homologous recombination method, but unfortunately natural recombination won’t occur in cells that easily! There are also methods which use Zinc fingers for delivering nucleases which cuts the DNA, but, this is really hard, because nuclease can’t target every possible DNA sequence. This is costly too. TALENs – Transcription Activator Like Effector Nucleases – cut the DNA at specific location. But, what to do, this is also costly! Our new method Here, we are going to use the already  existing proteins of bacteria...

We all love sweets, isn’t it? From a cute baby who had just started feeling and enjoying the tastes to 100 year old people, love sweets! Oh, I could hear you, yes, Diabetic patients can’t enjoy sweets. But, they too love to have sweets. Even, my father is diabetic and he uses to eat sweets hiding from my mom! Okay, what for that sweet love, you are asking? Nothing wrong in that, but, if you are crazy about the bottled drinks, then, I’m sorry, you must start worrying! L Aspartame – is an artificial sweetener which is used in most of the bottled drinks. And, that is an approved artificial sweetener by FDA (US Food and Drug Administration – which tests and approves all food and drug items before they are marketed) “It is approved by FDA, then, why we must worry?”, is this your next question? Let me answer you! Aspartame is formed using two aminoacids – L-Phenyl alanine and L aspartate. This when broken down during metabolism in our body produces – phenylalanine and hence ...