Caption

Cloning DNA. Gloved hand holding a wire loop examines a colony of genetically engineered bacteria on a petri dish. Another colony has been removed at lower right. The bacteria contain cloned DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) fragments. Each colony of bacteria can be seen as a small dot. Cloned or recombinant DNA is made by fragmenting DNA and inserting individual fragments into bacteria. As the bacteria reproduce the inserted DNA is also copied or "cloned". The cloned DNA, a gene for example, makes the bacteria produce the protein the gene codes for, which can then be "harvested". Such genes can also be produced for the treatment of genetic disorders (gene therapy).