Online Medical Transfection

Transfection is the process of introducing nucleic acids into cells by non-viral methods ^[1]. The term transformation is preferred to describe non-viral DNA transfer in bacteria and non-animal eukaryotic cells such as fungi, algae and plants.

Transfection of animal cells typically involves opening transient pores or 'holes' in the cell plasma membrane, to allow the uptake of material. Genetic material (such as supercoiled plasmid DNA or siRNA constructs), or even proteins such as antibodies, may be transfected. In addition to electroporation, transfection can be carried out by mixing a cationic lipid with the material to produce liposomes, which fuse with the cell plasma membrane and deposit their cargo inside.

Medical transfections

Explanation: Introducing DNA into eukaryotic cells, such as animal cells, is called transfection. Transfection typically involves opening transient "holes" or gates in cells to allow the entry of extracellular molecules, typically supercoiled plasmid DNA, but also siRNA, among others. Several different transfection techniques are available, including calcium phosphate transfection, lipofection, electroporation, heat shock, and proprietary transfection reagents such as Fugene. The choice of transfection methods differs upon cell sensitivity to the conditions, and the amount of work and cost involved. Typically, transfection of bacteria is done by heat shock or electroporation, which are quick, cheap and easy procedures to carry out, as bacteria are easy to grow and multiply rapidly, even from a small portion of survivors. For eukaryotic cells, lipid- cation based transfection is more typically used, as the cells are more sensitive. The drawback is that this is costlier, and requires more work, which is typical of eukaryotic cell culture procedures in general. DNA can also be introduced into cells using viruses as a carrier. In such cases, the technique is called viral transduction, and the cells are said to be transduced.