Overview of Recombinant DNA MIT 7.01SC Fundamentals of Biology
PROFESSOR: Recombinant DNA, often referred to also as genetic engineering. This is a series of techniques, series of methods that allow us to manipulate DNA for a variety of reasons. Now, we take it for granted. It's very much part of our everyday life in the laboratory. It's made a huge impact on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries as well. It wasn't always so uncontroversial. In fact, in the 1960s and '70s, when this technology was first being developed, it was great concern about scientists manipulating DNA, manipulating genetic material. In the city of Cambridge, in fact, had a moratorium for a while on the practice of genetic engineering or recombinant DNA technology, which fortunately, ultimately was overcome with good practices and I think good education about what the real limits of risk and benefit were so that now it's used very widely and, I would also say, very safely. The bottom line for what we're going to talk about today...