Final answer:
The correct option is D, genetic engineering enables bacteria to be utilized as factories to produce various molecules through recombinant DNA technology.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer to this question is D) genetic engineering allows the use of bacteria as production factories for a number of molecules AND relies on recombinant DNA technology. Genetic engineering uses a variety of techniques to manipulate genes within an organism, often involving the use of recombinant DNA technology. This technology involves the combination of DNA from different sources to create new gene sequences, which can then be introduced into organisms such as bacteria.
Examples of this include the production of human insulin where the human gene for insulin is introduced into E. coli bacteria, which in turn produce insulin that is chemically identical to human insulin. This technology uses bacterial cells as factories to produce various molecules on an industrial scale, including hormones, interferons, and vitamins. It is vital to note that the success of recombinant DNA technology is attributed to the bacterial cell machinery's ability to accurately read and express foreign genes without being dependent solely on conjugation or RNA enzymes.