Question

Transposons are used in:

• A. Polymerase chain reaction
• B. Gene silencing
• C. Autoradiography
• D. Gene sequencing

Hint:

Transposons are commonly called “jumping genes” and are widely used in insertional mutagenesis and gene silencing experiments.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Concept: Transposons, also known as “jumping genes”, are mobile genetic elements that can move from one position in the genome to another. These elements play an important role in genetic engineering, mutagenesis, gene tagging, and gene silencing studies. Scientists often use transposons to disrupt the expression of genes and study their functions. Such disruption may lead to suppression of gene activity, which forms the basis of gene silencing.

Step 1: Examine each option carefully.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) requires: \[ \text{DNA polymerase, primers, dNTPs and template DNA} \] Transposons are not essential components of PCR. Therefore, option (A) is incorrect.

Step 2: Gene silencing frequently utilizes transposon-based systems.
Insertion of transposons into functional genes can interrupt gene expression and suppress the production of gene products. Hence transposons are extensively used in: \[ \boxed{\text{Gene Silencing}} \] Therefore, option (B) is correct.

Step 3: Check the remaining options.
Autoradiography is a radioactive detection technique and does not involve transposons directly. Gene sequencing determines nucleotide sequences and does not primarily depend on transposons. Thus options (C) and (D) are incorrect. Hence, the correct answer is \[ \boxed{\text{(B) Gene silencing}} \]