Induction
of
Selcetive
Mutations
Physical and chemical mutagens cause random mutations and as a consequence obtaining a desired mutation is difficult and time consuming. The discovery of transposable genetic elements (see later) has enabled the isolation of selective mutations.
This is possible because some of the transposable elements carry along with them markers which allow selection such as resistance to antibiotics which allows easy detection. Thus, by use of transposable elements, not only mutations can be induced but also selected in any microbial function.
