How did Boyer and Cohen performe their recombinant DNA experiment?

Answer 1

Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen created the first recombinant DNA organism using recombinant DNA technology, or gene splicing, which allows the manipulation of DNA. They showed that the gene for a frog ribosomal RNA could be transferred and expressed in bacterial cells. Boyer and Cohen removed plasmids, small rings of DNA located in a cell's cytoplasm, from a cell. Using restriction enzymes, they cut the DNA at precise positions and then recombined the DNA strands in their own way using DNA ligase enzyme. They then inserted the altered DNA into E. coli bacteria. The bacterial cells could be made to produce specific proteins using gene splicing. This technology was a major breakthrough for genetic engineering. Their experiments dramatically demonstrated the potential impact of DNA recombinant engineering on medicine and pharmacology, industry and agriculture.

Answer 2

Boyer and Cohen performed their recombinant DNA experiment by isolating a plasmid from a bacterium, cutting it with a restriction enzyme, and then inserting a gene of interest into the plasmid using DNA ligase. The recombinant plasmid was then introduced into a host bacterium, where it replicated along with the bacterial genome.