The Bio-Rad pGLO bacterial transformation kit is commonly used to demonstrate this form of genetic exchange, which occurs in bacteria and eukaryotes and which differs fundamentally from transduction and conjugation. The basic experiment leads to the formation of green fluorescent colonies of Escherichia coli and can be extended to illustrate the specificity of the interaction between sugars and the AraC protein, the phenomenon of carbon catabolite repression, the substrate specificity of the β-lactamase encoded by the plasmid, and the role of host restriction/modification systems in the transformation process. pGLO DNA also can be isolated using plasmid mini-prep kits, analyzed with restriction endonucleases, and used to study the conditions for transformation in more detail.

A key question in teaching a General Genetics course is whether to present the major concepts of Mendelian genetics first, or to start with the essential ideas of molecular genetics. A comparison of two sequential courses at Creighton University with similar groups of students indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in exam scores or final grades with the two approaches. It thus may be better to focus on the questions of how best to present the material in each area to contemporary students and how better to prepare them to take exams that involve different types of questions requiring analytical, numerical, and writing skills. These issues are discussed in the context of the modern biology curriculum.