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Recombinant Proteins
Concepts tested here
- Universality of the genetic code
All Questions
2005 AIPMT 1 question
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Production of a human protein in bacteria by genetic engineering is possible becauseThe genetic code is universal: the same codon specifies the same amino acid in almost all organisms, from bacteria to humans.
So when a human gene (usually as cDNA, without introns) is introduced into a bacterium with suitable regulatory sequences, the bacterial ribosomes read its codons in the same way and produce the same human protein.
This is how human insulin, human growth hormone and other proteins are produced in E. coli.
Bacteria cannot carry out RNA splicing, which is why cDNA has to be used.
Gene regulation in bacteria and humans is not identical, and human chromosomes cannot replicate in bacterial cells; the gene must be carried on a vector such as a plasmid.
So it is possible because the genetic code is universal.