5.13b - Hosting Recombinant DNA

• Once the recombinant DNA (human gene and bacterial plasmid) is made it is necessary to transfer it to the host cell.
• In this case we will use the virus which consists of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) and the protein shell (capsid)
• The first thing to do is to remove the nucleic acid from the virus because we only need the capsid.
• The plasmids are then taken up by the virus. The virus acts as the vector of the recombinant DNA
• It is going to help us transfer the DNA into our host cell. The reason we have chosen the virus because that type of virus is known as a phage. What it does is infect bacterial cells. 
• The virus is able to attach to the cell membrane of the bacteria and insert the recombinant DNA into our host cell.
• At the end of this process we have a bacterial cell which now contains the recombinant DNA including the human gene for insulin.