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Science Week: "E. Coli and the New Science of Life"

By Rich Fisher

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kwgs/local-kwgs-918435.mp3

Tulsa, Oklahoma – Today, we conclude our Science Week series here on StudioTulsa --- all week, we've been airing interesting conversations from our archives, each of them concerning various matters scientific. On this edition of the program, we hear from the noted science writer Carl Zimmer, who was a guest on our show after the publication of his widely praised book, "Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life." In this fascinating work, Zimmer traces E. coli's pivotal role in the history of biology, from the discovery of DNA to the latest advances in biotechnology. He also explores the many surprising (and sometimes alarming) parallels between the life of this bacteria and human existence. E. coli, as Zimmer points out, is actually the one species on this planet that science knows best of all. In telling us the full story of the E. coli microbe, Zimmer also presents an accessible and page-turning story of life itself.