Lambdamycin is primarily used in molecular biology and genetic engineering as a selective agent in cell culture. It functions by inhibiting protein synthesis in susceptible organisms, making it effective for maintaining plasmid-containing cells in bacterial cultures. Researchers commonly use it in transformation experiments where a gene of interest is introduced into bacterial cells along with a lambdamycin resistance gene as a selectable marker. This allows only the successfully transformed cells to grow in the presence of the compound. It is especially useful in cloning workflows and recombinant protein expression systems where reliable selection pressure is required. Due to its mode of action and stability, lambdamycin is preferred in long-term culture studies and industrial-scale fermentation processes involving engineered microorganisms.