The technology involved in altering in some prescribed way the genetic constitution of an organism. Typically "useful" genes, i.e. very short sequence of DNA, are isolated from one organism and inserted into the DNA of a bacterium of yeast. These microorganisms multiply rapidly and can be cultured easily, enabling large quantities of the gene product to be obtained. Reproductive manipulation has been used for the large-scale production of antibiotics, enzymes, and hormones (e.g. insulin). Organisms into which foreign DNA has been artificially inserted are called "transgenic organisms".
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