How is plasmid incompatibility used for therapeutic advantage?

Researchers utilize the concept of plasmid incompatibility to help with problematic plasmids. By creating small, high-copy plasmids that are incompatible with large, low-copy virulence plasmids, they induce an asymmetrical loss of the low copy virulence plasmids. This method is known as "curing” and has been successful in removing virulence plasmids from Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Bacillus anthracis species. Moreover, researchers are now using plasmid incompatibility to fend off antimicrobial resistance. For example, they've developed novel plasmids that have incompatibility with antibiotic-resistant plasmids. This successfully removes these resistance plasmids from Enterobacteriaceae species inside the mouse gut.