DNA cloning is the molecular-biology technique of producing identical copies of a defined DNA sequence, typically a gene of interest, by excising it with sequence-specific restriction enzymes, ligating it into a self-replicating vector (a plasmid) with DNA ligase, and introducing that recombinant vector into a host organism whose replication machinery amplifies it. The method rests on the principles that restriction endonucleases recognize and cut specific palindromic sequences leaving complementary overhangs, that plasmids are extrachromosomal DNA elements capable of autonomous replication and gene expression within a host, and that a co-carried selectable marker permits selection of only those hosts that took up the construct. The concept belongs to recombinant DNA technology and biotechnology within molecular biology, and it underlies both gene amplification and heterologous protein production, such as recombinant insulin.
DNA cloning is the molecular-biology technique of producing identical copies of a defined DNA sequence, typically a gene of interest, by excising it with sequence-specific restriction enzymes, ligati…