22/10/2021
PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and Biotechnology
Why do we need to understand biology of the plants? we need to know how they function(how they interact with human, animals, atmosphere in the cycle of life), what they look like(characterization), how they are related(taxonomy), where they grow(environment), how they have evolved(evolutionary or timeline), and how people use plants(food, feed, medicine, fuel...). Through branches such as biology, plant pathology, plant physiology and plant molecular biology or plant biotechnology, plant ecology to name but a few, we can understand the biology of the plant.
Plant biology is not separated from other sciences not only life sciences but also others including social and political. PCR, the newly and advanced technic in plant biotechnology has made it easy. PCR is a means to amplify a particular piece of DNA making numerous copies of a segment of DNA. PCR can make billions of copies of a target sequence of DNA in a few hours. PCR was invented in the 1984 as a way to make numerous copies of DNA fragments in the laboratory but now its applications are vast where its huge impotance can be seen in all integral parts of Molecular Biology. In vitro culture is the way used in biological researches where organisms are treated in a controlled environment in order to know which environmental conditions are suitable for better life of such an organism. PCR is a laboratory version of DNA Replication in cells. This laboratory version of DNA replication is commonly called “in vitro” since it occurs in a test tube whereas “in vivo” DNA replication occurs in a living cell. DNA Replication in Cells (in vivo) typically takes just a few hours for a cell to copy all of its DNA material. DNA replication is semi-conservative. PCR helps the scientists to make this DNA replication out of the cell and able to understand the same process in the cell. Biotechnology particularly plant biotechnology including plant transformation all involves the use of PCR.
