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vector

1. (Science: mathematics) A term to describe something that has both direction and magnitude.

2. (Science: molecular biology) Commonly term for a plasmid that can be used to transfer dNA sequences from one organism to another. Different vectors may have properties particularly appropriate to give protein expression in the recipient or for cloning or may have different selectable markers.

recombinant DNA systems especially suited for production of large quantities of specific proteins in bacterial, yeast, insect, or mammalian cell systems.

See: transfection.