You Are a Scientist Who Wants to Produce Large Amounts

Essay

You are a scientist who wants to produce large amounts of the protein insulin that is used to facilitate the entry of glucose into cells. You know that insulin genes may be introduced into bacteria by way of a plasmid vector. These bacteria may then be used as 'micro-manufacturers' of insulin. Your laboratory technicians explore various methods of producing the desired bacteria, but you are not sure how many and which of the bacterial cells have been transfected (have the plasmid with the insulin gene). Propose a way to determine which bacterial cells have been transfected with the engineered plasmid and are able to produce insulin.