Genetic engineering.

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                        Genetic engineering

The use of various methods to manipulate the DNA (genetic material) of cells to change hereditary traits or produce biological products. The techniques include the use of hybridomas (hybrids of rapidly multiplying cancer cells and of cells that make a desired antibody) to make monoclonal antibodies - an antibody that is mass produced in the laboratory from a single clone and that recognizes only one antigen, gene splicing or recombinant DNA, in which the DNA of a desired gene is inserted into the DNA of a bacterium, which then reproduces itself, yielding more of the desired gene; and polymerase chain reaction - laboratory process in which a particular DNA segment from a mixture of DNA chains is rapidly replicated, producing a large, readily analyzed sample of a piece of DNA which makes perfect copies of DNA fragments and is used in DNA fingerprinting - any of several similar techniques for analyzing and comparing DNA from separate sources, used especially in law enforcement to identify suspects from hair, blood, semen, or other biological materials found at the scene of a violent crime. It depends on the fact that no two people, save identical twins, have exactly the same DNA sequence, and that although only limited segments of a person's DNA are scrutinized in the procedure, those segments will be statistically unique.

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Genetically engineered products include bacteria designed to break down oil slicks and industrial waste products, drugs (human and bovine growth hormones, human insulin, interferon), and plants that are resistant to diseases, insects, and herbicides, that yield fruits or vegetables with desired qualities, or that produce toxins that act as pesticides. Genetic engineering techniques have also been used in the direct genetic alteration of livestock and laboratory animals . Genetically engineered products usually require the approval of at least one U.S. government agency, such as the Dept. of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, or the Environmental Protection Agency.

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