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

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 (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 Frederik Schulz
Interactions 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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