text: Evolution in bacteria was previously viewed as a result of mutation or genetic drift. Today, genetic exchange, or gene transfer is viewed as a major driving force in the evolution of prokaryotes. This driving force has been widely studied in organisms like E. coli. Bacteria reproduces asexually, where daughter cells are clones of the parent. This clonal nature leads to random mutations that occur during DNA replication that potentially helps bacteria evolve. It was originally thought that only accumulated mutations helped bacteria evolve. In contrast, bacteria also import genes in a process called homologous recombination, first discovered by the observation of mosaic genes at loci encoding antibiotic resistance. The discovery of homologous recombination has made an impact on the understanding of bacterial evolution. The importance of evolution in bacterial recombination is its adaptivity. For example, bacterial recombination has been shown to promote the transfer of multi drug resistance genes via homologous recombination that goes beyond levels purely obtained by mutation.