Question

What are transgenic bacteria? Illustrate using any one example.

Answer 1

Transgenic bacteria are bacteria into which a foreign gene (transgene) has been artificially introduced into their genome using recombinant DNA technology. This genetic modification enables bacteria to produce proteins coded by the foreign gene.

For example, in the production of human insulin, genes responsible for the A and B chains of insulin are introduced into the plasmids of the bacterium Escherichia coli. These transgenic E. coli then synthesize the insulin chains, which are later combined to form human insulin, known commercially as Humulin. This technique enables the mass production of human insulin, which is used to treat diabetes, demonstrating a key application of transgenic bacteria in biotechnology and medicine.