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Genetics & Biotechnology vocabulary · Genetic Engineering and CRISPR

Clone

Meaning in genetics & biotechnology, with examples

/kloʊn/verbCore term

In genetics & biotechnology, clone means: To make copies of a DNA fragment by inserting it into a vector and growing it in cells; also, to make a genetically identical copy of a cell or organism.

In Turkish: klonlamak

How it is used

In daily lab talk it usually means molecular cloning: 'we cloned the gene into an expression plasmid'. The noun 'clone' also means a single bacterial colony or a cell population grown from one cell: 'pick ten clones'. Methods include restriction cloning and Gibson assembly.

Example sentences

  1. We cloned the coding sequence into an expression vector.

  2. After transfection, we picked single-cell clones and checked them for the edit.

Common collocations

  • clone into a vector
  • clone a gene
  • pick clones
  • single-cell clone
  • molecular cloning
  • plasmidA small, circular piece of DNA found naturally in bacteria and used in the lab as a tool to carry and copy genes inside cells.
  • vectorA DNA molecule, such as a plasmid or a modified virus, used to carry a gene into a cell, where it can be copied or expressed.
  • restriction enzymeA bacterial enzyme that cuts DNA at a specific short sequence, such as GAATTC for EcoRI. It is a basic tool for cutting and joining DNA in cloning.
  • transfectionPutting DNA or RNA into animal or human cells in culture, usually with chemical reagents or an electric pulse, so that the cells express it or are changed by it.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Genetic Engineering and CRISPR

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