Library (biology)

<p>In <a href="/facts/Molecular_biology/YgqU35ub">molecular biology</a>, a library is a collection of <a href="/facts/Genetic_material/2tTgcI0v">genetic material</a> fragments that are stored and propagated in a population of microbes through the process of <a href="/facts/Molecular_cloning/Te56373e">molecular cloning</a>. There are different types of DNA libraries, including <a href="/facts/CDNA_library/MPMUmT0w">cDNA libraries</a> (formed from <a href="/facts/Complementary_DNA/P2nWeY4T">reverse-transcribed RNA</a>), <a href="/facts/Genomic_library/NnE0fPVC">genomic libraries</a> (formed from genomic DNA) and randomized mutant libraries (formed by de novo gene synthesis where alternative nucleotides or codons are incorporated). DNA library technology is a mainstay of current <a href="/facts/Molecular_biology/YgqU35ub">molecular biology</a>, <a href="/facts/Genetic_engineering/vwdlDR61">genetic engineering</a>, and <a href="/facts/Protein_engineering/veRAR1SF">protein engineering</a>, and the applications of these libraries depend on the source of the original DNA fragments. There are differences in the <a href="/facts/Cloning_vectors/s4peCwGf">cloning vectors</a> and techniques used in library preparation, but in general each DNA fragment is uniquely inserted into a cloning vector and the pool of recombinant DNA molecules is then transferred into a population of <a href="/facts/Bacteria/wC8xSCsU">bacteria</a> (a <a href="/facts/Bacterial_Artificial_Chromosome/1MzCeAoe">Bacterial Artificial Chromosome</a> or BAC library) or yeast such that each organism contains on average one construct (vector + insert). As the population of organisms is grown in culture, the DNA molecules contained within them are copied and propagated (thus, "cloned").
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Library (biology) open-in-new

Library (biology)