How to get the gene into the other cell.

There are different ways to get a gene from A to B or to transform a plant with a "new" gene. A VECTOR is something that can carry the gene into the host, or rather into the nucleus of a host cell. Vectors are commonly bacterial plasmids (see below and next page) or viruses (a). Another method is the "SHOTGUN TECHNIQUE" also known as "bio-ballistics," which blindly shoots masses of tiny gold particles coated with the gene into a plate of plant cells, hoping to land a hit somewhere in the cell's DNA (b).