Baby Sairine G.

Leuterio
11-Einstein
Biology II

 Heat shock method: The heat shock method of gene transfer

involves intense short pulses of heat to the target cells, which
temporarily disrupts the cell membrane, allowing the DNA to be
transferred into the cell. This process is usually done along with the
chemical-mediated method or electroporation for increased efficiency
in DNA transfer. The advantages of this method are its simplicity and
that it may be used with intact tissues. However, this method may
damage the target cells due to very high temperatures. The heat
shock method of DNA delivery has been utilized to study the
expression of certain bacterial genes that allow for survival in high
temperatures.
 Biolistics: Biolistics, also known as particle gun method or gene gun
technique, is a process of introducing DNA or RNA into living tissues
by coating microscopic gold or titanium particles (bullets) with the
nucleic acid and using a gene gun to force the particles into the skin
of the organism. The high velocity using the gene gun may be
provided by compressed gas, centripetal force (external force to
move a body along a curved path), electric discharge, or firing
explosives. Acceleration provides the necessary force to the particles
so that they can puncture the cell membrane, which allows the
particles to enter into the cells of the living tissues.
 Electroporation: Electroporation is a method of introducing DNA into
the cells by exposing the cells to high voltage electric pulses for very
brief periods of time. In this process, the protoplasts derived from
plants or bacteria are suspended in a suitable ionic solution (a
medium that conducts electric current) that contains the DNA to be
transferred. This mixture is exposed to electric pulses of a chosen
voltage for the desired time, based factors such as the size of DNA to
be inserted and target cell. The electric pulses temporarily disrupt the
phospholipid bilayer of the cell membrane (making holes in the
membrane) and allow the DNA molecules to pass into the cell.