Targetrons are very specific. However, when you use TargeTron vectors with a retrotransposition-activated selectable marker (RAM) a rare targeting event can be detected under the experimental selective pressure. This can happen when the intended gene target is unavailable or essential and the unintended site has a sufficient degree of similarity to the intended insertion site.

When you select a reference genome, the TargeTrons with sufficient base-pairing interactions with other than intended DNA target in the reference genome will be eliminated to prevent potential mistargeting.

Please let us know what reference genome you would like to add to the drop-down menu.