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| Modern Genetic Analysis Chapter 11. Applications of Recombinant DNA Technology Summary Cloned genes can be modified with specific mutational changes at specific sites by using the technique of site-directed mutagenesis. RFLPs are useful as markers in chromosome mapping generally. Linkage of an RFLP to a human disease gene is a useful tool in counseling prospective parents and in diagnosing disease in utero. Reverse genetics starts with a gene or protein of unknown function, induces a specific change such as a gene knockout, and then monitors the phenotype to try to understand the gene's function. Biotechnology is the application of recombinant DNA techniques to modify animals, plants, and microbes important in commerce. Transgenic organisms, modified by insertion of specific exogenous DNA, have found a central place in biotechnology because they allow highly specific genome modifications. Human gene therapy is a special application of transgenic technology: germ line therapy aims at incorporating some transgenic cells into the germ line so that they can be passed on to descendants, and somatic therapy introduces genetically modified cells into the body. Both amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling use recombinant DNA techniques for direct diagnosis of a disease allele.

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