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How do you put a gene into a virus and work it so that you can control how much it reproduces?

2006-09-30 02:28:56 · 2 answers · asked by Garrett F 1 in Science & Mathematics Other - Science

2 answers

The good thing about working with bacteria and viruses is that you can run the same experiment hundreds of thousands of times at once.

The best way to work with a virus is to put a gene in a plasmid. Plasmids are circular nucleaic acids that exists outside the cells normal genetic codes. They can be DNA or RNA, depending on the type of virus.

After you've introduced the plasmid you want into the viruses, only a small percentage will actually take it up. But if you can screen for the viruses that have done what you want by including another gene on that plasmid. For example, you could incode a gene that allows it to enter a type of cell it couldn't before. You would then put the viruses with those types of cells, and the ones that enter and grow are the ones that would live.

This does have human implications, where someday we maybe be able to add some genes to human cells. People who don't produce insulin, for example, we could possibly insert insulin producing genes into their pancreatic cells. That wouldn't change their gamettes though (sperm or egg), so it wouldn't be passes on to a new generation.

2006-09-30 06:27:42 · answer #1 · answered by lizettadf 4 · 0 0

Hi. Your question points out one of the potential dangers with using live virus for genetic work. IF one was made that reproduced and it had harmful effects that would be a serious problem.

2006-09-30 03:55:31 · answer #2 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0 0

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