Immature embryos of the spring barley variety Golden Promise, were bombarded with three different particle delivery systems and both transient and stable transformation examined. In addition, a range of techniques for the preparation of the DNA coated gold particles was examined. Fertile transgenic barley plants were obtained using three particle preparation techniques which differed in the amount of gold and DNA used for each bombardment. However, only one of the particle delivery systems, the PDS 1000/He device, appeared to be effective in yielding transformed barley plants.