Can someone please explain the function of the lac operon in one brief sentence?

Question

tyteen4a03 · Answer

Wikipedia gave me this:
It is used in transporting Lactose and is used in controlling the production of genes in prokaryotes.

anonymous · Answer

The lac operon is an operon required for the transport and metabolism of lactose in Escherichia coli and some other enteric bacteria. It consists of three adjacent structural genes, lacZ, lacY and lacA. The genes encode β-galactosidase, lactose permease, and thiogalactoside transacetylase (or galactoside O-acetyltransferase), respectively.the lac operon allows for the effective digestion of lactoseThe lactose permease, which sits in the cytoplasmic membrane, transports lactose into the cell. β-galactosidase, a cytoplasmic enzyme, subsequently cleaves lactose into glucose and galactose. However it would be wasteful to produce the enzymes when there is no lactose available or if there is a more preferable energy source available such as glucose. Gene regulation of the lac operon was the first genetic regulatory mechanism to be understood clearly and is one of the foremost examples of prokaryotic gene regulation.