Read the following statements about the gene gun method:
I. The gene gun method is also known as biolistics.
II. The gene gun method is suitable for plants.
III. In the gene gun method, cells are bombarded with high velocity micro-particles of silver or platinum coated with DNA.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → I and II only
The gene gun is one of the ways of putting alien DNA into host cells. It is the method meant for plant cells: the cells are shot with tiny metal particles coated with DNA.
I. The gene gun method is also known as biolistics. — True. Biolistics and gene gun are two names for the same method.
II. The gene gun method is suitable for plants. — True. The book describes this method as the one suitable for plants. For animal cells, DNA is injected straight into the nucleus by micro-injection.
III. In the gene gun method, cells are bombarded with high velocity micro-particles of silver or platinum coated with DNA. — False. The micro-particles are made of gold or tungsten, not silver or platinum.
So only statements I and II are correct.
NCERT Extract:
Competent Host (For Transformation with Recombinant DNA) – “… This is not the only way to introduce alien DNA into host cells. In a method known as micro-injection, recombinant DNA is directly injected into the nucleus of an animal cell. In another method, suitable for plants, cells are bombarded with high velocity micro-particles of gold or tungsten coated with DNA in a method known as biolistics or gene gun. And the last method uses ‘disarmed pathogen’ vectors, which when allowed to infect the cell, transfer the recombinant DNA into the host.”