Why use bacterial DNA in recombinant DNA tech?

  • Thread starter Thread starter lifeiseasy
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Dna
AI Thread Summary
Bacterial plasmids are favored in genetic research due to their rapid replication, ease of transformation, and ability to grow large populations quickly, which allows for efficient selection of traits like antibiotic resistance. While eukaryotic DNA is also utilized in research, bacteria, particularly strains like E. coli, are often preferred because they are well-mapped and understood. The familiarity and established methodologies surrounding bacterial systems make them a practical choice for many researchers, similar to the historical use of fruit flies in genetics.
lifeiseasy
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
What makes it suitable for the technology? Why don't we use eukaryotic DNA instead? Is it because of the gene for antibiotic resistance that's characteristic of most types of bacterial plasmids?
 
Last edited:
Biology news on Phys.org
It is somewhat not very clear what exactly you are trying to ask (bacterial DNA?), but bacteria is very easy to transform with plasmids, grow up large populations of quickly, and select for certain traits (such as antibiotic resistance)...but many researchers also use eukaryotes as well.

(apologies if I misunderstood the question)
 
Rapid replication, and a lot of familiarity. Beyond that, as Boom Boom said eukaryotes are not uncommon at all. I would add that some, such as strains of E. Coli, also are fully mapped, and have been for quite a while. This is a bit like wondering, "why fruit flies?", and the answer is generaly, it's not just them, but once they were the best understood and easiest to use.
 
Last edited:
Chagas disease, long considered only a threat abroad, is established in California and the Southern U.S. According to articles in the Los Angeles Times, "Chagas disease, long considered only a threat abroad, is established in California and the Southern U.S.", and "Kissing bugs bring deadly disease to California". LA Times requires a subscription. Related article -...
I am reading Nicholas Wade's book A Troublesome Inheritance. Please let's not make this thread a critique about the merits or demerits of the book. This thread is my attempt to understanding the evidence that Natural Selection in the human genome was recent and regional. On Page 103 of A Troublesome Inheritance, Wade writes the following: "The regional nature of selection was first made evident in a genomewide scan undertaken by Jonathan Pritchard, a population geneticist at the...
Back
Top