[Recombinant strains: their biological properties and the safety measures in working with them].

The review covers the problems of environmental safety of industrial microbial strains derived by genetic engineering techniques and used to prepare biologically active substances. E. coli was used as an example to show the significance of studying their biological characteristics, taxonomy, interaction with other microorganisms and macroorganisms. Based on the data available in the literature it is concluded that there is a need to work out a set of measures to continuously monitor recombinant microorganisms used in biotechnological industry.