In: Biology
Ans: Transformation is the process in which the cell incorporates an exogenous DNA from its surrounding. The process is widely used in genetic engineering and plays a very important role in molecular biology. The whole purpose of this process is to store and replicate plasmids in bacteria in which plasmid is introduced into the bacteria which gets replicated and amplified thereby making large quantities of it. This process is widely used in making genetically modified organisms, making insulin and other human proteins as well as make large quantities of DNA called DNA cloning, in studying DNA linkages and generating cDNA libraries etc.
It was first reported in S. pneumoniae by Griffith in the year 1928, and later demonstrated by Avery in 1944. Bacterias have a competent cell as it has the ability to take up free extracellular genetic material and it does not require any living donor cell other than the presence of DNA.