When this gene was placed into a plasmid and introduced into a bacterium, the introduced gene functioned normally. Thus was born the biotechnology of recombinant DNA, the foundation of genetic engineering.
Genetic engineering is one of the main branches of biotechnology.
Cell and tissue culture techniques are a second branch of this technology. These techniques allow researchers to cultivate cells in vitro , transfer embryos from one mother to another, and to fuse nuclei of cells of the same or different species. Mouse hybrid cells are routinely used in many research laboratories. These techniques can be used to detect viruses of animal and plant diseases, to detect harmful substances in the environment, or to match the DNA left at a crime scene to a possible criminal. DNA probes are used to locate and identify genes.