AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Why can bacteria recognize a human gene and then produce a human protein? DNA replication in bacteria and humans is the same. Bacterial cells contain the same organelles as human cells. The basic components of DNA are the same in humans and bacteria.

Detailed explanation-2: -Production of a human protein in bacteria by genetic engineering is possible because the genetic code is universal. The genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded within genetic material that is the DNA or mRNA sequences which are translated into proteins by living cells.

Detailed explanation-3: -Most bacteria have a genome that consists of a single DNA molecule (i.e., one chromosome) that is several million base pairs in size and is “circular” (doesn’t have ends like chromosomes of eukaryotic organisms).

Detailed explanation-4: -Bacterial genetic material can be changed via several processes like transformation, conjugation, transduction, and mutation. In conjugation, pilus formation helps in DNA transfer between cells whereas in transformation the DNA is directly absorbed from a nearby solution.

Detailed explanation-5: -Such proteins include insulin. A gene responsible for insulin production, the human insulin gene, is inserted into the plasmid vector and then introduced into a bacterium. The bacteria then multiply, producing a massive number of identical bacteria that produce insulin.