Question

What is totipotency? What are plasmids?

Answer 1

Totipotency is the ability of a cell to divide and differentiate to produce all the different types of cell in the body of an organism. 'Toti' means 'entirely'. The property of totipotency of cell is useful for different cell culture techniques.

Plasmids: A plasmid is an extrachromosomal, circular, double-stranded DNA found in bacteria and yeast cell. The plasmids are often used as vectors to carry some specific gene in host organisms (used in genetic engineering techniques). eg- P${}^B$${}^R$322 plasmid, Ti-Plasmid (often regarded as the natural genetic engineer), etc.