Recombinant DNA Technology in Biotech applications.

Recombinant DNA technology is a powerful tool in biotechnology. It enables scientists to produce compounds ranging from pharmaceuticals to food additives, inside of microorganisms, such as bacteria and yeast. rDNA technology takes place inside of a host cell, usually a bacterial, yeasts, or mammalian cell. A vector, such as a cosmid or plasmid is cleaved using restriction enzymes; scientists then cleave the gene of interest the same way. When the vector DNA and gene of interest are combined, they are ligated together. When the new rDNA is introduced to a compatible host cell, it starts to create proteins of interest. However, yeast is usually a better host cell for protein expression than bacteria, as they can do post translational modifications. They also "leak" proteins into their growth media, cheapening extraction costs and reducing risks of contamination via toxins.