Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Fluorescence-microscopy Screening and Next-generation Sequencing: Useful Tools for the Identification of Genes Involved in Organelle Integrity
Published on: April 13, 2012
DNA probes. Fruits of the new biotechnology
1Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, Md. 20857.
Abstract:
The emergence of recombinant DNA technology in the 1970s has given rise to new diagnostic techniques based on DNA probes. The Food and Drug Administration's interest in these probes stems from its regulatory responsibilities regarding DNA probes as medical devices. The agency also sees DNA probes as valuable tools in meeting its mission of identifying, preventing, and resolving public health problems, especially in the area of food safety. The development of DNA probes for genetic diseases is raising medical and ethical questions that must be addressed by the medical community, whose ultimate responsibility must be to see that this new technology is used wisely, appropriately, and correctly.
Related Concept Videos
Recombinant DNA
Plant Breeding and Biotechnology
Labeling DNA Probes
Radioisotopes, fluorophores, or small molecule binding partners like biotin or digoxigenin, are the most widely used reporter tags for labeling DNA probes. These labels can be attached to the probe DNA molecule via...
FISH - Fluorescent In-situ Hybridization
Transgenic Plants
The first-ever transgenic plant was a tobacco plant developed in 1983 that showed resistance against the tobacco mosaic virus. Since then, many transgenic plants have been developed and commercialized for improving the agricultural, ornamental, and horticultural value of a crop plant. Transgenic...
The Central Dogma
RNA is the Missing Link Between DNA and Proteins
In the early 1900s, scientists discovered that DNA stores all the information needed for cellular functions and that proteins perform most of these functions. However, the mechanisms of converting genetic information into functional proteins remained unknown for many years. Initially, it was believed that a single gene is...

