text: Gene function can be investigated by systematically "knocking out" genes one by one. This is done by either deletion or disruption of function (such as by insertional mutagenesis) and the resulting organisms are screened for phenotypes that provide clues to the function of the disrupted gene. Knock-outs have been produced for whole genomes, i.e. by deleting all genes in a genome. For essential genes, this is not possible, so other techniques are used, e.g. deleting a gene while expressing the gene from a plasmid, using an inducible promoter, so that the level of gene product can be changed at will (and thus a "functional" deletion achieved).