What are the antibiotics used for in the genetic engineering setting?

Question

What are the antibiotics used for in the genetic engineering setting?

Answer 1

An antibiotic resistant gene is used as a "marker" in order to select out those organisms which have taken up the engineered gene of interest. How that works, a gene for antibiotic resistance is attached to the engineered gene of interest.  Organisms that take up the gene of interest (and the gene for antibiotic resistance), and incorporate them into their genome, is resistance to that particular antibiotic. The organisms that have failed to take up the gene of interest and the attached antibiotic resistance gene, will not be resistant to that particular antibiotic. All organisms that did not incorporate the gene of interest will be killed off when exposed to the specific antibiotic. Those that did take up the gene of interest will survive and reproduce, even in the presence of the specific antibiotic.

Does that sort of make sense to you that that is why antibiotics can be used as a marker to select out those organisms with the engineered gene of interest while killing off those organisms that did not take up the engineered gene?  In such cases, the antibiotic resistant gene is the "marker," while the antibiotic itself serves as a selector.

See: GMO Compass

http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/safety/hu...