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restriction enzymes

Cultural  
  1. Chemicals used in the lab to cut up DNA at specific sites so that it may be sequenced. They function in nature as a form of bacterial self-protection that can cut up foreign DNA. The use of restriction enzymes is crucial in DNA fingerprinting.


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Instead of reproducing DNA replication in a test tube and making different fragment lengths with special nucleotides, a DNA sample is chopped into pieces with special molecular scissors called restriction enzymes.

From Slate Feb. 5, 2019

Many bacteria produce restriction enzymes that cut DNA at a very specific short sequence that is 4–8 pairs long.

From Textbooks Jan. 1, 2018

In molecular cloning with bacteria, a desired DNA fragment is inserted into a bacterial plasmid using restriction enzymes and the plasmid is taken up by a bacterium, which will then express the foreign DNA.

From Textbooks Apr. 25, 2013

But BioBricks-type methods are limited by their use of restriction enzymes.

From Nature May 18, 2011

Using restriction enzymes as "scissors," he cut the DNA taken from several people into segments and arranged them into patterns that somewhat resemble the bar codes found on supermarket products.

From Time Magazine Archive

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