An interesting mode of infection and transmission of viruses was found in bacterial system. Normally a bacterium infected with bacteriophage would lyse after some time and release a progeny of bacteriophages. In many experiments it was seen that the bacterium does not lyse and happily undergoes division. Analysis of such bacteria showed that the phage [...]
If a colony of bacteria is infected with bacteriophages, the bacteria undergo chance collision and ultimately the phages attach to the bacterial cell wall through tail fibres. The DNA of the phage is injected into the host cell by dissolving the cell wall at the point of attachment, and the protein shell remains outside. The [...]
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary frontier area of science. The whole world today is so much shaken up with this word that it has become a strong belief that this is “the field, which will give solution to our “any problem.” “Biotechnology, no surprise, is then variously described as “the last revolution of the current century”, [...]
Structural genes: There are many structural genes associated in an operon system. These direct the synthesis of the mRNA and govern the sequence of amino acids in a protein molecule. Each structural gene might produce a particular kind of protein or all structural genes might regulate the production of a single protein. The activities of [...]
Progress in any scientific discipline is dependent on the availability of techniques and methods that extend the range and sophistication of experiments which may be performed. Over the last 30 years or so this has been demonstrated in a spectacular way by the emergence of genetic engineering. This field has grown rapidly to the point [...]
