What is recombinant protein expression?

Recombinant protein expression is a technology that involves manipulating DNA to produce proteins in host cells that would not normally produce them, or to produce them at higher levels. It typically involves inserting a gene encoding the desired protein into a vector, such as a plasmid, and then introducing this vector into a host cell (e.g., bacteria, yeast, or mammalian cells). The host cell then transcribes and translates the gene, producing the recombinant protein. This is widely used to produce large quantities of specific proteins for research, therapeutic, or industrial purposes.