Well, there are ways to make that work.
My theory:
Telomeres are junk DNA on the ends of chromosomes. In humans, they cause cancer indirectly. Because the RNA particles that 'read' DNA have to start about three parts before the start and end of DNA, every time a cell replicates is becomes a little shorter.
When the telomeres run out, it starts cutting off real DNA and thus causes cancer.
(Lung cancer is really when the tar kills cells, the surviving ones replicate to make up for it, and the new cells don't have enough telomeres.)
In any case, using telomeres on a bacteria would be an effective way to make them 'time out' after only a couple thousand generations.
But the advent of planes and fast transportation would eliminate the gaurantee that it wouldn't spread to the USSR as well.