TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - BIOTECHNOLOGY - Preferred Bacterium: (I) survives acute exposure to ionizing radiation up to 15000 Gy or can grow in the presence of continuous radiation of 60 Gy/hour. (I) is selected from Enterococcus, Alcaligenes and Deinococcus.(I) has been engineered to express a heterologous protein or enzyme selected from toluene dioxygenase, the proteins encoded by the mer operon, the proteins encoded by the Pseudomonas Tol region, the proteins encoded by the xylL-xylE operon, a monooxygenase, the proteins encoded by bphA1A2A3A4, the proteins encoded by czcA, B and C genes, the smtA and B genes and the arsA and B genes.(I) is engineered to detoxify at least two toxins.(II) expresses the P. putida todC1C2BA and Escherichia coli merA operons.The bioremediation composition further contains a film forming agent or a nutrient agent. The bioremediation composition is formulated for controlled release.Preparation: (I) is engineered using vectors, plasmids, selection markers and transformation systems. SPECIFIC MICROORGANISMS - (I) is preferably Deinococcus radiodurans, D. radiopugnans, D. grandis, D. proteolyticus, D. murrayi, D. geothermalis or D. radiophilus.    EXAMPLE - Recombinant strains of Deinococcus engineered for bioremediation of mixed wastes were prepared as a library of individual (primary) Deinococcus strains, each containing a different toxin-degrading gene cassette or metal resistance gene(s) which was cloned into Type-II, Type-III or Type-IV insertional vectors and separately transformed into Deinococcus. These primary strains were used in bioremediation compositions individually or combined depending on the composition of a waste site.    D. radiodurans strain MD764 expressed mercury resistance/reducing and toluene metabolizing functions. The MerA activity was determined by following mercury (Hg) (II)-stimulated NADPH (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) oxidation spectrophotometrically. Mercury (II)-dependent NADPH oxidation was observed in cell extracts of MD764 containing the MerA gene but not in wildtype D. radiodurans.