Not usually. The way that generally works is this: - You get some competent cells ("competent" means "able to accept external DNA" there are different ways you

Not usually. The way that generally works is this: - You get some competent cells ("competent" means "able to accept external DNA" there are different ways you can make different cells competent) - You place plasmids (circular DNA strands) containing the trait you're interested in imparting (e.g. glowing) unto the bacteria - Under favorable conditions the bacteria will take on the genetic information contained in the plasmids You can order plasmid vectors much like primers, though iirc it's a bit more complicated--may be wrong about that. Caveat: As Cixelyn mentions there are actually protocols for constructing DNA using PCR and and thus there are also protocols for constructing plasmids using PCR. So yes, you could technically use an OpenPCR machine to construct a plasmid vector which you then introduce to competent cells.