Protective DNA Vaccination by Particle Bombardment Using BAC DNA Containing a Replication-Competent, Packaging-Defective Genome of Herpes Simplex Viru

Particle bombardment is a physical method of cell transformation that can be applied in vitro as well as in vivo (1 ,2 ). The DNA- or RNA-coated gold particles that are generally used are of high density, subcellular in size, and are accelerated to high velocity to carry the genetic information into cells. Because this method does not require specific ligand-receptor interaction for application, plants, bacteria, yeast, or mammalian cells have been used as targets for DNA or RNA bombardment (3 –7 ).