Question

What are transgenic bacteria? Illustrate using any one example.

Answer 1

Transgenic bacteria contain foreign gene that is intentionally introduced into its genome. They are manipulated to express the desirable gene for the production of various commercially important products.
An example of transgenic bacteria is E.coli. In the plasmid of E.coli, the two DNA sequences corresponding to A and B chain of human insulin are inserted, so as to produce the respective human insulin chains. Hence, after the insertion of insulin gene into the bacterium, it becomes transgenic and starts producing chains of human insulin. Later on, these chains are extracted from E.coli and combined to form human insulin.

Answer 2

Transgenic bacteria, genetically modified with genes sourced from other organisms, are employed for large-scale production of desired gene products.
For example, after extracting the human insulin gene from the human genome and creating recombinant DNA (rDNA) containing this gene, the rDNA, consisting of vector DNA and the insulin gene, is inserted into E. coli bacteria. These modified bacterial cells, known as transgenic bacteria, are then utilized to produce insulin protein on a large scale.