Concepedia

Abstract

Recent developments in recombinant DNA technology have had a dramatic impact on our ability to study the properties of the human genome. It is now possible to construct libraries of cloned DNA fragments that can be used to map and to isolate each human gene. A variety of different types of DNA libraries can be constructed with distinct advantages of one type over another for a selected application. For example, for mapping purposes, a library with relatively small inserts (1–4 kb) would be ideal. Furthermore, it would be beneficial if the library were constructed from a subset of the human genome rather than from total genomic DNA. On the other hand, a library optimal for the isolation of an entire human gene or two linked genes and perhaps some flanking sequences would consist of larger DNA inserts (20–40 kb) in order to increase the probability of finding intact genes within...