text: Bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) are circular DNA molecules, usually about 7kb in length, that are capable of holding inserts up to 300kb in size. BAC vectors contain a replicon derived from E. coli F factor, which ensures they are maintained at one copy per cell. Once an insert is ligated into a BAC, the BAC is introduced into recombination deficient strains of E. coli by electroporation. Most BAC vectors contain a gene for antibiotic resistance and also a positive selection marker. The figure to the right depicts a BAC vector being cut with a restriction enzyme, followed by the insertion of foreign DNA that is re-annealed by a ligase. Overall, this is a very stable vector, but they may be hard to prepare due to a single origin of replication just like PACs.