Key points: Bacteria can take up foreign DNA in a process called transformation. Transformation is a key step in DNA cloning. It occurs after restriction digest and ligation and transfers newly made plasmids …

Definition, purpose, and basic steps of DNA cloning.

DNA cloning involves creating identical copies of a specific gene using restriction enzymes to cut the desired gene, pasting it into a plasmid, and inserting it into bacteria like E. coli.

In transformation, a bacterium takes in DNA from its environment, often DNA that's been shed by other bacteria. In a laboratory, the DNA may be introduced by scientists (see biotechnology article).

How can pieces of DNA from different sources (such as a human gene and a bacterial plasmid) be joined together to make a single DNA molecule? One common method is based on restriction …

Plasmids and other DNA can be introduced into bacteria, such as the harmless E. coli used in labs, in a process called transformation. During transformation, specially prepared bacterial cells are given a …

To do so, they began with large cultures of heat-killed S cells and, through a long series of biochemical steps (determined by careful experimentation), progressively purified the transforming principle by …

Bacterial binary fission is the process that bacteria use to carry out cell division. Learn the steps of binary fission, including copying the bacterial chromosome and forming a new cell wall.

In bacteria, RNA transcripts are ready to be translated right after transcription. In fact, they're actually ready a little sooner than that: translation may start while transcription is still going on! In the diagram …

In the laboratory, a gene can be transferred into E. coli bacteria on a small, circular DNA molecule called a plasmid. The plasmid is taken up by the bacteria in a process called transformation. The …