Recombinant viral genomes cloned onto BAC vectors can be subjected to extensive molecula genetic analysis in the context of E. coli. Thus, the recombinant virus technology exploits the power of prokaryotic genetics to introduce all kinds of mutations into the recombinant genome. All available techniques are based on homologous recombination between a targeting vector carrying the mutated version of the gene of interest and the recombinant virus. After modification, the mutant viral genome is stably introduced into eukaryotic cells permissive for viral lytic replication. In these cells, mutant viral genomes can be packaged into infectious particles to evaluate the effect of these mutations in the context of the complete genome.