A
DNA construct is an artificially constructed segment of
nucleic acid that is going to be "transplanted" into a target
tissue or
cell. It often contains a
DNA insert, which contains the
gene sequence encoding a
protein of interest, that has been subcloned into a
vector, which contains bacterial resistance genes for growth in
bacteria, and
promoters for expression in the organism. A DNA construct may express wildtype protein, prevent the expression of certain genes by expressing competitors or inhibitors, or express mutant proteins, such as deletion mutations or
missense mutations. A DNA construct is often used in
molecular biology to analyze macromolecules such as proteins or
RNA in more detail.