What is considered to be key to make DNA fragments?
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Solution
Restriction enzyme:
Restriction enzyme, also known as restriction endonuclease, is a protein produced by bacteria that cleaves DNA at specific sites along the molecule.
The restriction enzyme cleaves the DNA sequence asymmetrically to produce short and single-stranded structures which are called sticky or cohesive ends because these can stick together on treatment with a ligase to form the DNA molecule again.
Each restriction enzyme recognizes a different and specific recognition site or DNA sequence.
Thus, restriction enzyme is the key to make DNA fragments.
Example:
A six nucleotide palindromic sequence recognized by the restriction enzyme EcoR1 cleaves both strands of DNA at different locations.
So, when two DNA samples are treated and cleaved with a similar sticky end restriction enzyme then the fragments of different lengths of DNA sequence are observed because in both DNA sequences the recognition or restriction site would be different.