 Qualitatively, HGT is not a mode of reproduction, though it does involve the transfer of genomic parts between microbes. Unlike in reproduction, the genomic transfer is not (typically) between parent and offspring microbes, but adjacent ones. Roughly, when microbes make contact, they can exchange parts of their genome, which means that the history of these genomic parts may be distinct from the history of the microbial organisms in which we find those genetic units. HGT can be highly advantageous for microbes, and genomic parts can quickly spread through microbial populations, especially if they carry beneficial characteristics. Quantitatively, the rate of HGT in microbes is enormously high and commonplace, especially relative to hybridization in, say, mammalian species.