How does one determine if a particular restriction enzyme is suitable for analyzing a

particular piece of DNA?

What will be an ideal response


Restriction enzymes cleave DNA at particular sequences. If the recognition sequence is short, there is an increased
probability that the sequence will occur as compared with a long recognition sequence. Similarly, the longer the
piece of DNA is to be analyzed, the more likely that a particular sequence will occur. Optimal DNA digest analysis
requires a sufficient, but not overwhelming, number of fragments to analyze. To determine the number of cuts a
particular enzyme will make in a particular piece of DNA, one uses the formula N/4n, where N is the number of
base pairs in the DNA and n is the number of bases in the recognition sequence. This allows one to determine
which restriction enzymes might be optimal for a particular piece of DNA.

Health & Biomechanics

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