Cloning DNA in Bacteria

The word cloning for this type of amplification entails making multiple identical copies of a sequence of DNA. The target DNA sequence is then inserted into a [cloning vector]. Because this vector originates from a self-replicating virus, plasmid, or higher organism cell when the appropriate size DNA is inserted the “target and vector DNA fragments are then ligated and create a recombinant DNA molecule. The recombinant DNA molecules are then put into a bacteria strain (usually E. coli) which produces several identical copies by transformation. Transformation is the DNA uptake mechanism possessed by bacteria. However, only one recombinant DNA molecule can be cloned within a single bacteria cell, so each clone is of just one DNA insert.