Here's my summary of the fourth and final day of ASM2013, with a special surprise guest appearance at the end!

May21.mp3">Download Episode (5.5 MB, 6 minutes)

Session 1: Synthetic Genomics to Create a Minimal Bacterial Cell and Some Other Neat Stuff Presented by John I. Glass He talked about the cell with the synthetic genome (episode-13.html">full episode 13), and about how important it is to determine what is the minimal amount of genome a cell needs to grow--knowing that, you can start there and build almost anything you want. He also talked about a new method of producing new flu strains for vaccine production using synthetic nucleic acids, which could greatly shorten the time it takes to get a new vaccine going to counter a pandemic.

Session 2: C. difficile vs. the Microbiota: The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend Presented by Shonna McBride When a probiotic (Lactococcus lactis) was grown with C. difficile, the latter was killed. Session 3: An Intriguing Bacterial Symbiont in the Nucleus of Amoebae Presented by ecology.net/schulz.asp">Frederik SchulzInteractions between amoebae and bacteria are interesting and also relevant to our health, considering the similarities between amoebae and cells of our immune system. This interaction is particularly interesting: bacteria living inside the nucleus.

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

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