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The Facts On File DICTIONARY of BIOTECHNOLOGY and GENETIC ENGINEERING Third Edition The Facts On File DICTIONARY of BIOTECHNOLOGY and GENETIC ENGINEERING Third Edition Mark L. Steinberg, Ph.D. Sharon D. Cosloy, Ph.D. The Facts On File Dictionary of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Third Edition Copyright © 2006, 2001, 1994 by Mark L. Steinberg, Ph.D., and Sharon Cosloy, Ph.D. Illustrations © 2006 by Infobase Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Steinberg, Mark (Mark L.) The Facts on File dictionary of biotechnology and genetic engineering/ Mark L. Steinberg and Sharon D. Cosloy—Third ed. p. cm. — (The Facts On File science library) Includes index. ISBN 0-8160-6351-6 (alk.paper) 1. Biotechnology—Dictionaries. 2. Genetic engineering—Dictionaries. I. Cosloy, Sharon D. II. Title. III. Series. TP248.16.S84 2000 660.6′03—dc21 00-035463 Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can fi nd Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfi le.com Text and cover design by Cathy Rincon Printed in the United States of America MP FOF 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 This book is printed on acid-free paper. This edition is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Sharon Cosloy by her children, Michael and Rebecca, and her husband, Edward. Sharon was a loving mother, a devoted wife, a dedicated mentor, and an accomplished professor and researcher. And above all, she was a kind and gentle woman with a bright spirit that still lives on today through the people who were fortunate enough to be touched in life by her. From MLS: To Sharon, in memoriam, a good friend and valued colleague. You are greatly missed. CONTENTS Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Entries A to Z Appendixes 1 261 Acronyms (and Other Abbreviations) 262 The Chemical Elements 267 Periodic Table 268 The Genetic Code 269 Purine and Pyrimidine Bases Found in Nucleic Acids 270 Side Chains (R Groups) for Individual Amino Acids 271 Bioinformatics Web Sites 272 Enzymes Used in Gene Cloning 274 PREFACE The last decades of the 20th century produced a dramatic revolution in the field of biology in which, for the fi rst time, the ability to modify the genetic makeup of higher organisms in the laboratory rather than by the random forces of natural selection was realized. This new era was born out of critical discoveries in the mid-1970s that led to the appearance of new fields of molecular genetics variously known as gene cloning, genetic engineering, and biotechnology. The central theme of genetic engineering is the introduction of genetic material altered in a laboratory into an organism different from that from which it was originally derived. The introduction of genes from higher organisms into microorganisms made it possible to isolate, amplify, study and ultimately engineer individual genes for a variety of specialized purposes. These techniques have also allowed scientists to look closely at the structure, function, and regulation of genes and their proteins. Genetic engineering has given rise to technologies that were unth