recombinant DNA technology

[ ree-kom-buh-nuhnt dee-en-eytek-nol-uh-jee ]

nounGenetics.
  1. any of various techniques for separating and recombining segments of DNA or genes, often employing a restriction enzyme to cut a gene from a donor organism and inserting it into a plasmid or viral DNA for transplantation into a host organism, where the gene causes the production of a desired substance either for harvesting or for the benefit of the host organism itself.

Origin of recombinant DNA technology

1
First recorded in 1970–75

Words Nearby recombinant DNA technology

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

Cultural definitions for recombinant DNA technology

recombinant DNA technology

[ (ree-kom-buh-nuhnt) ]


Techniques, usually associated with genetic engineering, in which strands of DNA from different sources are spliced together to form DNA for a new life form. Gene splicing is another name for this process.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.