Can we made gene artificially in lab?
If we can so How??
Yes, it's definitely possible to make a lab-designed gene. In fact, scientists have been doing it for years! The first lab-designed gene was made thirty-five years ago in 1973.
Scientists first started making synthetic genes by cutting and pasting parts of different genes together. This "simple" method hasn't really changed over the years. It is still the most common way of making a lab-designed gene.
But technology has improved over time. So scientists are also able to create genes entirely from scratch.
You might be asking yourself why scientists waste their time making designer genes. Turns out it's not a waste of time at all!
Lab designed genes are not only used by scientists to study biology. They are also used to make life-saving drugs like insulin. More recently they've also been used to create genes used in gene therapy and genetically modified foods.
Let's learn more about how lab-designed genes are made and why. But before we can talk about making a gene, we have to understand what a gene is and what it does.
Making Genes in a Lab
A gene is a piece of DNA that has instructions for making a protein. These instructions also include when and how much protein to make. Proteins are molecules that are involved in almost everything a cell does.
The reason a scientist designs a new gene is usually because they want to change something about the old gene. They want to change what a protein does, where it is found or how much of it gets made. They might also change whether a protein gets made in a person, a bacterium, a mouse, or whatever.
When a scientist changes a gene it is called recombinant technology. All this really means is combining DNA in new ways.
As I said earlier, there are two main ways for scientists to make recombinant DNA. The most common is by cutting and pasting together genes or parts of genes. The second is creating a synthetic gene directly from DNA.
For example, think of a gene as words where the letters are DNA. To make the word "basketball" you can cut and paste the words "basket" and"balloon" together. Or you could use the letters b, a, s, k, e, t, and l to make the word from scratch.
In both of these examples we're recombining letters to make a new word. One method uses pre-existing words to make a new word. The other makes a word from individual letters.
This is the same as recombining DNA to make a new gene. So how exactly can you recombine DNA to create a gene? Let's quickly review the structure of DNA to understand how this is done.
DNA is a double stranded molecule. The two strands are each made up of a chain of nucleotides, abbreviated A, G, T, and C.
The order of these letters has the instructions for how, when, where, and how much of a protein to make. One way to make a synthetic gene is to recombine these instructions.
Scientists first started making synthetic genes by cutting and pasting parts of different genes together. This "simple" method hasn't really changed over the years. It is still the most common way of making a lab-designed gene.
But technology has improved over time. So scientists are also able to create genes entirely from scratch.
You might be asking yourself why scientists waste their time making designer genes. Turns out it's not a waste of time at all!
Lab designed genes are not only used by scientists to study biology. They are also used to make life-saving drugs like insulin. More recently they've also been used to create genes used in gene therapy and genetically modified foods.
Let's learn more about how lab-designed genes are made and why. But before we can talk about making a gene, we have to understand what a gene is and what it does.
Making Genes in a Lab
A gene is a piece of DNA that has instructions for making a protein. These instructions also include when and how much protein to make. Proteins are molecules that are involved in almost everything a cell does.
The reason a scientist designs a new gene is usually because they want to change something about the old gene. They want to change what a protein does, where it is found or how much of it gets made. They might also change whether a protein gets made in a person, a bacterium, a mouse, or whatever.
When a scientist changes a gene it is called recombinant technology. All this really means is combining DNA in new ways.
As I said earlier, there are two main ways for scientists to make recombinant DNA. The most common is by cutting and pasting together genes or parts of genes. The second is creating a synthetic gene directly from DNA.
For example, think of a gene as words where the letters are DNA. To make the word "basketball" you can cut and paste the words "basket" and"balloon" together. Or you could use the letters b, a, s, k, e, t, and l to make the word from scratch.
In both of these examples we're recombining letters to make a new word. One method uses pre-existing words to make a new word. The other makes a word from individual letters.
This is the same as recombining DNA to make a new gene. So how exactly can you recombine DNA to create a gene? Let's quickly review the structure of DNA to understand how this is done.
DNA is a double stranded molecule. The two strands are each made up of a chain of nucleotides, abbreviated A, G, T, and C.
The order of these letters has the instructions for how, when, where, and how much of a protein to make. One way to make a synthetic gene is to recombine these instructions.