Recombinant DNA combines genetic material from different sources into one molecule. The discussion connects Paul Berg’s work to the ability to cut and splice DNA, establishing new possibilities for genetic engineering.
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45:45>> 1972 first recombinant DNA molecule. >> Yeah. This um biochemist Paul Berg and his team created the first recombinant DNA molecule at Stanford University. recombinant meaning you're taking a bunch of different DNA from a lot of different sources and creating a single DNA molecule that is functional and it does stuff. It's like a chimera or a sphinx where you've got the lion's head or no a human head and the lion's body. This is we're doing that with DNA now. Um he surgically spliced genetic material from a bacteria phage um a virus into the S40 tumor virus. So, two different viruses. And it launched the era of modern genetic engineering
46:26because now you're literally messing with the genetic constituents, putting stuff together, breaking stuff apart. All of this is possible because of the discovery of restriction enzymes earlier that could let us >> cut stuff. Exactly. It earned him the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry >> and is the birthplace of Jurassic Park.