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damage could be reduced. The desired kind of altered bacterium can be 
generated by traditional methods that are used throughout the food and 
pharmaceutical Industry to derive bacteria with desired characterl sties . The 
disadvantage of traditional methods is that they are not very specific and 
often change an organism in both the desired way and, as a side effect. In 
other ways that can adversely affect the organism's survival ability or other 
characterl sties of the organism. Recombinant DNA techniques offer, for the 
first time, a method for altering only the gene or genes that are desired to be 
altered. This Is done by isolating the gene to be altered, changing it, and 
replacing the organism's original gene with the specifically altered gene. 
Thus the extent to which the organism is changed is minimized through the use 
of recombinant DNA techniques. As an important consequence, the probability 
that the altered organism will cause unexpected ecological problems is 
significantly reduced when recombinant ONA techniques are used. (P) 
Field tests are essential to determine whether or not the introduced 
property, i.e., INA~ has any value, because It is impossible to simulate field 
conditions in the growth chamber or greenhouse. The researchers have conducted 
extensive experiments in the greenhouse and growth chamber, but can finally 
determine the efficacy of the INA” bacteria only under field conditions. Based 
on previous experiments with chemically-induced and ultraviolet-radiation- 
induced INA" mutants and naturally occurring INA" Pseudomonas strains, the 
proposed field trials are expected to have a positive outcome, I.e., the INA" 
strains are expected to protect the plants against frost Injury. However, the 
degree of such protection varies from strain to strain as well as with 
environmental variables, both physical and biological. The physical variables 
of the environment Include, among other things, soil, moisture, air humidity, 
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