TRACKING GENETICALLY-ENGINEERED MICROORGANISMS IN NATURE

The past year has seen the continued development of methods for tracking genetically engineered microorganisms in nature, with an emphasis on increased sensitivity, specificity and quantitative ability. In addition, novel methods have been developed for tagging bacteria targeted for environmental release. Nevertheless, the limited number of field trials published to date have primarily relied on conventional monitoring methods, despite the availability of better and theoretically safer methods.