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In Understanding of Biological Processes

	In Understanding of Biological Processes - Genetic engineering techniques have been used for acquiring basic knowledge about - biological processes like gene structure and expression, chromosome mapping, cell differentiation and the intergation of viral genomes. This could lead to a better understanding of the genetics of plants and animals, and ultimately of humans. As compared to the 3,000-4,000 genes III E.coli the human cell contains hundreds of thousands of genes. At present the exact racation and function of a vast majority of the genes is not known Human genes could be transplanted into E. coli, one at a time, and the bacterium could then be made to reproduce on a large scale.
This would provide 'ill ill ions of copies of individual genes, and enable a detailed analysis of their structure and function. It will be possible to construct complete DNA maps of eukaryotes by, cloning specific genes inserted in E.coli or other microorganisms, many of the genes of Drosophila have been isolated and identified by this method Determination of the primary structure of DNA, i e. the sequence of bases, is important for decoding the genetic information stored in genes. For this purpose it is essential to have multiple copies of specific genes. This can be achieved by inserting the genes into bacterial DNA, and then cloning the cell to produce multiple copies.
For some types of research work a specific protein is required for the study of its enzymatic or physical properties. To obtain such a protein from a bacterial culture would require thousands of gallons of the culture, as some proteins are made in very small quantities (e. g. 10 molecules in each bacterial cell). If the gene for the protein is inserted in the lambda phage DNA, the phage would replicate and produce several hundred copies of the protein per cell. Thus there would be a far greater yield of protein per bacterial cell. A gene could also be coupled to a promoter sequence of the host cell, e. g. the lac (lactose) promoter of E.coli. Transcription of mRNA, and hence synthesis of a particular protein, could now be regulated and started Or stopped as required. Under suitable conditions of growth the bacterial cell could be made to produce a specified protein to the extent of 5% of the tot1l1 bacterial protein.

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