RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY HAS PROVEN TO BE A POWERUL TOOL OF RESEARCH WITH POTENTIAL TO REVOLUTIONIZE AGRICULTURAL ANDMEDICAL PRACTICES.

RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY HAS PROVEN TO BE A POWERUL TOOL OF RESEARCH WITH POTENTIAL TO REVOLUTIONIZE AGRICULTURAL ANDMEDICAL PRACTICES. THE TECHNOLOGY, WHICH INVOLVES ISOLATINGA GENE SEQUENCE OF INTEREST FROM ONE ORGANISM AND MANIPULATING THE SEQUENCE IN A VECTOR INTO ANOTHER ORGANISM,DOES NOT HAVE RAPID AND EFFICIENT MEANS OF ISOLATING PURE DNA MOLECULES GREATER THAN 40 BASE PAIRS IN LENGTH. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY (HPLC) COLUMNS THAT WILL SEPARATE DNA MOLECULES BY AFFINITY CHROMATOGRAPHY. AROMATIC DYE MOLECULES KNOWN TO RAPIDLY AND REVERSIBLY BIND TO DNA WILL BE LINKED BY LONG HYDROPHILIC CHAINS TO HPLC QUALITY SILICA GEL. THE NUMBER OF DYE MOLECULES LINKED TO THE SILICA SURFACE WILL BE QUANTIFIED BY THE PRESENCE OF RADIOLABELS INCORPORATED IN THE LINKER CHAINS. THE DERIVATIZED SILICA GELS WILL BE PACKED INTO HPLC COLUMNS ANDWILL BE EVALUATED FOR THEIR ABILITY TO CHROMATOGRAPHICALLY RESOLVE VARIOUS SIZE DNA RESTRICTION FRAGMENTS. CHROMATO- GRAPHIC VARIABLES TO BE INVESTIGATED WILL INCLUDE TYPE AND PERCENT ORGANIC MODIFIER SOLVENT, IONIC STRENGTH AND TEMPERATURE OF THE MOBILE PHASE. THE SILICA GEL DERIVATIVES WILL BE VARIED IN THE FOLLOWING PARAMETERS: IDENTITY OF DYE AFFINITY PROBE, LENGTH OF THE LINKER CHAIN TO THE SILICA SURFACE, DENSITY OF DYE MOLECULES ON THE SURFACE, AND THE CAPPING OF THE SILICA BEAD SURFACE WITH HYDROPHOBIC OR HYDROPHILIC FUNCTINAL GROUPS. IF THE CHROMATOGRAPHIC PURIFICATION OF GENE SEQUENCES OF INTEREST CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED IN MINUTES INSTEAD OF HOURS TO DAYS, THIS INVENTION WILL HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON THE RATEOF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT USING RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY