Genetically engineered containment systems

Fig. 3. One of the experimental systems in common use for genetic engineering of plants with Agrobacterium containing a recombinant Ti-plasmid (from Bryant, 1988).

Kaplan, D. L., Mello, C., Sano, T., Cantor, C., and Smith, C. (1999), Steptavidin-based containment systems for genetically engineered microorganisms, Biomol. Eng., 16, 135-140. 

Containment systems, useful, but often not critical in non-engineered situations, may well be critical prior to release of many genetically-engineered microorganisms. To date, three strategies have been proposed for containing these organisms. 

Containment systems may be valuable addenda to released microbe genetic systems to reduce liability exposure, enhance investment, and expedite evaluation of environmental safety. Even non-engineered microbes can be effectively constrained by auxotrophy or developmental blocks. 

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