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We use phage Mu, a bacterial virus which transposes orders of magnitude more frequently than other transposons, as a model system. Our multifaceted approach makes use of genetics, recombinant DNA technology and electron microscopy, as well as nucleic acid and protein biochemistry. We know that the purified transposition proteins assemble into a complex on the DNA which we call a transpososome. Much of our current efforts are directed towards understanding the structure and function of this transposition complex. Finally, we are interested in determining why Mu DNA injected from the virus shows a different transposition end-product than transposition from DNA already in the cell.