Recombinant DNA is a form of synthetic DNA that is engineered through the combination or insertion of one or more DNA strands, thereby combining DNA sequences that would not normally occur together. In terms of genetic modification, recombinant DNA is produced through the addition of relevant DNA into an existing organismal genome, such as the plasmid of bacteria, to code for or alter different traits for a specific purpose, such as immunity. It differs from genetic recombination, in that it does not occur through processes within the cell or ribosome, but is exclusively engineered. Recombinant protein is protein that is derived from recombinant DNA.
The Recombinant DNA technique was engineered by Stanley Norman Cohen and Herbert Boyer in 1973. They published their findings in a 1974 paper entitled "Construction of Biologically Functional Bacterial Plasmids in vitro", which described a technique to isolate and amplify genes or DNA segments and insert them into another cell with precision, creating a transgenic bacterium. Recombinant DNA technology was made possible by the discovery of restriction endonucleases by Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, and Hamilton Smith, for which they received the 1978 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
A bacterial genetics and recombinant DNA quiz
http://biog-101-104.bio.cornell.edu/BioG101_104/tutorials/recomb_DNA.html
About Recombinant DNA
http://library.thinkquest.org/04apr/00217/en/products/recdna/about.html
Biological Safety: Recombinant DNA Research
http://www.drs.illinois.edu/bss/factsheets/rdna.aspx?tbID=fs
Cloning: Dolly Company Used Woman’s DNA
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/scotland/newsid_816000/816791.stm
Goat/Sheep Hybrid
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_813000/813466.stm
Historical events in recombinant DNA
http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/mcclean/plsc431/debate/debate3.htm
NIH Guidelines for Recombinant DNA Work (132 pages, in PDF format)
http://oba.od.nih.gov/oba/index.html