Kanamycin is an aminoglycoside bactericidal antibiotic with broad antibacterial spectrum towards mycobacteria, many Gram-positive, and most Gram-negative bacteria. Kanamycin binds to the 30S subunit of prokaryotic ribosomes, causing misreading of the mRNA sequence and inhibition of translocation, thereby inhibiting protein synthesis. In molecular biology, it is widely used as a selective agent to isolate transformants that are expressing a kanamycin resistance gene.