[Music] recombinant dna technology is a technique in which a fragment of dna from a donor cell or organism is isolated and then inserted into the dna of another cell or organism this allows scientists to introduce a new characteristic into an organism by inserting a new gene into it [Music] recombinant dna technology involves four major steps firstly a dna fragment containing the gene of interest is obtained from a donor cell secondly a suitable plasmid is obtained from a bacterium plasmids are commonly used as vectors to transfer the gene of interest into a host cell for expression
thirdly the dna fragment containing the gene of interest is cut using an enzyme called restriction enzyme this enzyme acts like scissors it recognizes a specific base sequence and cuts the dna at a specific point on the other hand the same restriction enzyme is used to cut open the plasmid lastly the dna fragment containing the gene of interest is inserted into the open plasmid with the help of another enzyme called dna ligase this enzyme acts like glue it catalyzes the joining of the dna fragment and the plasmid a recombinant plasmid is finally formed this recombinant plasmid
can then be introduced into a host cell for different purposes such as producing proteins of other species like human insulin or producing genetically modified organisms that possess new characteristics
