 | Term | Definition |
| |
selective breeding |
method of breeding that allows only individual organisms with desired characteristics to produce the next generation |
| |
hybridization |
crossing dissimilar individuals to bring together the best of both organisms |
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inbreeding |
continued breeding of individuals with similar characteristics to maintain the desired characteristics of a line of organisms |
| |
genetic engineering |
process that involves genes or pieces of DNA being taken from one organism and transferred to another |
| |
restriction enzyme |
the scissors-enzyme that cuts DNA at a specific sequence of nucleotides |
| |
gel electrophoresis |
mixture of DNA fragments is placed at one end of a porous gel, and an electric voltage is applied to the gel (separating DNA) |
| |
recombinant DNA |
pieces of DNA from 2 or more sources that are combined |
| |
polymerase chain reaction |
technique that allows molecular biologists to make many copies of a particular gene |
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plasmid |
small circular piece of DNA |
| |
genetic marker |
a gene that makes it possible to distinguish bacteria that carry the plasmid (and the foriegn DNA) from those that don't |
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transgenic |
term used to refer to an organism that contains genes from other organisms |
| |
clone |
member of population of genetically identical cells produced from a single cell |
