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Antibiotic resistance is an important tool for genetic engineering. rDNA is a tool used in genetic engineering that brings together the DNA of multiple organisms. By constructing a plasmid that contains an antibiotic-resistance gene as well as the gene being engineered or expressed, a researcher can ensure that, when bacteria replicate, only the copies that carry the plasmid survive. This ensures that the gene being manipulated passes along when the bacteria replicates.

In general, the most commonly used antibiotics in genetic engineering are "older" antibiotics. These include:

ampicillin kanamycin tetracycline chloramphenicol In industry, the use of antibiotic resistance is disfavored, since maintaining bacterial cultures would require feeding them large quantities of antibiotics. Instead, the use of auxotrophic bacterial strains (and function-replacement plasmids) is preferred.