The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. Share Microparticle bombardment technology has evolved as a method for delivering exogenous nucleic acids into plant cells and is a commonly employed technique in plant science. Desired genetic material is precipitated onto micron-sized metal particles and placed within one of a variety of devices designed to accelerate these "microcarriers" to velocities required to penetrate the plant cell wall. In this manner, transgenes can be delivered into the cell's genome or plastome. Since the late 1980s microparticle bombardment has become a powerful tool for the study of gene expression and production of stably transformed tissues and whole transgenic plants for experimental purposes and agricultural applications. This paper reviews development and application of the technology, including the protocols and mechanical systems employed as delivery systems, and the types of plant cells and culture systems employed to generate effective "targets" for receiving the incoming genetic material. Current understanding of how the exogenous DNA becomes integrated into the plant's native genetic background are assessed as are methods for improving the efficiency of this process. Pros and cons of particle bombardment technologies compared to alternative direct gene transfer methods and Agrobacterium based transformation systems are discussed. Lorence A, et al. Methods Mol Biol. 2004;267:329-50. doi: 10.1385/1-59259-774-2:329. Methods Mol Biol. 2004. PMID: 15269435 Review. Gao C, et al. Methods Mol Biol. 2013;940:3-16. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-110-3_1. Methods Mol Biol. 2013. PMID: 23104329 Travella S, et al. Plant Cell Rep. 2005 Mar;23(12):780-9. doi: 10.1007/s00299-004-0892-x. Epub 2004 Nov 16. Plant Cell Rep. 2005. PMID: 15761662 Ozyigit II, et al. Mol Biol Rep. 2020 Dec;47(12):9831-9847. doi: 10.1007/s11033-020-06001-5. Epub 2020 Nov 21. Mol Biol Rep. 2020. PMID: 33222118 Review. Gelvin SB. Nat Biotechnol. 2008 Sep;26(9):998-1000. doi: 10.1038/nbt0908-998. Nat Biotechnol. 2008. PMID: 18779811 Kanai M, et al. Genes (Basel). 2023 Jun 23;14(7):1327. doi: 10.3390/genes14071327. Genes (Basel). 2023. PMID: 37510232 Free PMC article. Vo Phan MS, et al. J Vis Exp. 2022 Oct 14;(188):10.3791/64656. doi: 10.3791/64656. J Vis Exp. 2022. PMID: 36314833 Free PMC article. Qamar F, et al. Biotechnol Rep (Amst). 2022 Aug 30;36:e00761. doi: 10.1016/j.btre.2022.e00761. eCollection 2022 Dec. Biotechnol Rep (Amst). 2022. PMID: 36159743 Free PMC article. Khalid F, et al. Phytother Res. 2022 Jul;36(7):2746-2766. doi: 10.1002/ptr.7475. Epub 2022 May 2. Phytother Res. 2022. PMID: 35499291 Free PMC article. Review. Citiulo F, et al. Plants (Basel). 2021 Sep 2;10(9):1828. doi: 10.3390/plants10091828. Plants (Basel). 2021. PMID: 34579360 Free PMC article. Review.