Recombinant DNA is created by inserting DNA strands into a different set of DNA, used in genetic modification to create new organisms. It was first developed in the 1970s and is introduced into organisms via a vehicle or through methods like microinjection and biolistics. It is used to introduce specific characteristics into cultures, bacteria, and animals. Recumbent DNA is a common misspelling and also the name of an album by the band Endymion.
Recombinant DNA is a type of DNA created by artificially inserting one or more DNA strands into a different set of DNA. It is used in genetic modification to create entirely new organisms by adding artificial bits or pieces of DNA from other organisms to an existing creature. The term is often abbreviated to rDNA.
The technique for producing recombinant DNA was first developed in the early 1970s by Herbert Boyer and Stanley Norman Cohen. Their original article described a method for using this DNA to create transgenic bacteria. Their work built on the work of Daniel Nathans, Hamilton Smith and Werner Arber, who discovered restriction endonucleases. In 1978 the three were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery.
In its most basic form, it’s just putting together strands of DNA that wouldn’t otherwise look that way. These could simply be multiple strands of DNA cloned from the same organism, combined to create something new or different. Usually, however, rDNA is thought to refer to so-called chimeric plasmids. These are DNA molecules that contain strands of multiple animals, named after the mythological creature that contained various animal parts.
Once these plasmids have been created, they are introduced into an organism via a vehicle, the most common of which are E. coli bacteria and subsequent derivatives. Once introduced, these plasmids replicate and can bring about actual changes in the organism itself.
Other methods to introduce recombinant DNA bypass using a vehicle entirely. In the method known as microinjection, new DNA is actually injected directly into a cell’s nucleus, rather than being introduced by a bacterium. In the method known as biolistics, cells are hit with very high-velocity particles, usually tungsten or gold, which are coated in DNA that essentially sticks to the cell.
Recombinant DNA is used to try to introduce very specific characteristics into cultures, bacteria and animals, usually to make them more beneficial to humans, although sometimes simply as a demonstration of a technique, or sometimes as an artistic statement. Some well known uses of it are to make crops drought tolerant; create new vaccines, such as the hepatitis B vaccine; make crops naturally resistant to pests; and to make the infamous GloFish, which were zebrafish rendered fluorescent.
Recumbent DNA is a common misspelling of this term and “Recumbent DNA String Exponent” is also the name of an album by the band Endymion. Endymion is a small Dutch band, with members Bart Revier, Jelle Neys and Bas Lint. Endymion has released more than 20 singles and albums since 1998. “Recumbent DNA String Exponent” was their first album, released in early 1998 on the Supreme Intelligence label. It has only two songs on the album: “Failure” on the A-side and “Judge of Darkness” on the B-side. The name is likely to be an intentional spelling mistake, playing with the sound of the recombinant word.
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