
Genetic Technologies
Genetic Technologies
Humans now have techniques to fundamentally alter the DNA molecule: cutting genes out, adding genes, even constructing entire artificial chromosomes.
Learning Objective: Diagram the steps involved in cutting, copying, and moving pieces of DNA.


Genetic technologies far surpass artificial selection in the rate and degree of impact we can have on a species’ genetic information.
This video provides an overview of the basic techniques associated with altering the genetic make-up of an organism.
Watch this video; you can select the closed captioning “cc” option if you would like to see the text.

Even as genetic technologies advance, the same basic steps apply: cutting out the desired gene, making more copies inserting the gene into another chromosome, growing cells with the recombined chromosome, and confirming that the transferered gene is present.
This illustration of a-t-c-g is an iconic indicator of the base sequence of a chromosome. It is used in advertisements and movies to indicate genetic technologies.


Similarly, this image of a gel is iconic, and indicates how the a-t-c-g sequence was determined: by separating fragments of DNA on a gel.
The next section is a closer look at new gene editing techniques.
