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β-cells in the human pancreas produce insulin - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 18 - 2008 - Paper 1
Question 18
β-cells in the human pancreas produce insulin. mRNA transcripts from these cells can be used to produce complementary (cDNA) copies of the active gene. The enzyme n... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:β-cells in the human pancreas produce insulin - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 18 - 2008 - Paper 1
Step 1
The enzyme needed to produce cDNA from an mRNA transcript is
Answer
The correct enzyme required to synthesize complementary DNA (cDNA) from an mRNA transcript is reverse transcriptase. This enzyme catalyzes the transcription of RNA into DNA, effectively allowing the mRNA produced by β-cells, such as that for insulin, to be reverse transcribed into cDNA. This process is crucial in molecular biology techniques such as the study of gene expression and cloning.