restriction enzymes

Cultural  

1. Chemicals used in the lab to cut up DNA at specific sites so that it may be sequenced. They function in nature as a form of bacterial self-protection that can cut up foreign DNA. The use of restriction enzymes is crucial in DNA fingerprinting.

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Example Sentences

Instead of reproducing DNA replication in a test tube and making different fragment lengths with special nucleotides, a DNA sample is chopped into pieces with special molecular scissors called restriction enzymes.

From Slate • Feb. 5, 2019

In the late 1960s, scientists discovered special prokaryote enzymes, called restriction enzymes, that could cut DNA at specific sites.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

Many restriction enzymes make staggered cuts in the two strands of DNA, such that the cut ends have a 2- to 4-nucleotide single- stranded overhang.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

But BioBricks-type methods are limited by their use of restriction enzymes.

From Nature • May 18, 2011

Using restriction enzymes as "scissors," he cut the DNA taken from several people into segments and arranged them into patterns that somewhat resemble the bar codes found on supermarket products.

From Time Magazine Archive