Recombinant DXA technology is the mainstay of biotechnology. It aims at isolating desired DXA sequences (genes) from different sources and then joining them to produce a recombinant DNA.
It refers to manipulation / engineering of genes (DNA) towards a desired end. Several synonyms such as genetic engineering, gene cloning, molecular cloning and genetic manipulation may substitute for recombinant DXA technology.
Genetic recombination is a natural process in sexually reproducing organisms where gene recombinations occur during meiosis. But recombinant DXA technology has made possible the artificial recombination of genes. In this process, a desired gene is identified, then isolated from the source organism and then joined to another DXA molecule to produce a recombinant DXA.
This recombinant DXA thus produced is then multiplied to obtain several copies. All these identical copies of the recombinant DXA together constitute the clone of the said DXA. If the process is applied to a cell, it is called cell cloning; to animal, then animal cloning; to human, then human cloning and to gene, then gene cloning.
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The first recombinant DNA was produced by Paul Berg, Herbert Boyer, Annie Chang and Stanley Cohen in 1973 when they joined a piece of DNA from SV 40 (Simian virus) with DNA from lambda phage virus.