Engineering life

Imagine designing bacteria that can do whatever you want - from cleaning up oil spills to churning out the latest cancer treatments - ordering the biological parts online and building it in a couple of weeks. This is no longer the stuff of dreams, but the reality of synthetic biology. Plus, tracing European genes, how parasites manipulate our immune systems, I take part in a research project to find out if sociability is in my genes, and our gene of the month is looking for wedded bliss. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists