Phleomycin is a glycopeptide antibiotic produced by Streptomyces verticillus. It is a member of Bleomycin family with wide spectrum antibiotic activity in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. In resemblance to Bleomycin activity Phleomycin is also an anti-cancer agent that causes DNA cleavage which leads to cell death. DNA cleavage by Phleomycin is initiated by metal ions causing reactive oxidative species (ROS) which induces oxidative damage.Therefore Phleomycin is used as a DNA damage inducer to test DNA double strand repair. Additionally DNA repair is tested by comet assay to measure DNA breaks after Phleomycin treatment. Phleomycin is also commonly used as a selective agent by utilizing ble gene to induce cell resistance. The ble gene encodes BLE protein which forms a 11 complex with phleomycin decreasing its toxicity.