Ganciclovir

Description

Ganciclovir is an antiviral compound commonly used in molecular biology for the negative selection of mammalian cells that express the HSV-TK herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene. Cells with active HSV-TK convert ganciclovir into a toxic triphosphate form, leading to cell death. This makes ganciclovir a valuable tool in gene targeting and selection against random integration in techniques like homologous recombination.