• Discussion of “epigenetic memory” in induced pluripotent stem cells: iPSCs retain residual DNA methylation patterns from their somatic tissue of origin, biasing differentiation toward donor-cell lineages; nuclear-transfer-derived pluripotent cells show less of this bias, suggesting nuclear transfer may reset the epigenome more completely than factor-based reprogramming.

• Exploration of ultra-low-energy microbial life in deep subsurface environments: many bacteria and archaea catabolize 10^4–10^6 times more slowly than lab cultures, survive on energy fluxes 1,000-fold below standard maintenance estimates, and turn over biomass on millennial timescales, prompting a re-evaluation of basal metabolic requirements.

• Review of bacteriocins as a viable alternative to antibiotics, highlighting their potential to circumvent resistance mechanisms currently undermining traditional antimicrobial therapies.

• Presentation of legume–rhizobia mutualism research: legumes actively “punish” non-performing nitrogen-fixing symbionts, and evolutionary models show how partner choice mechanisms stabilize cooperation in these plant–microbe interactions.

• Sharing of open-access papers on V(D)J recombination, noting that vertebrate immune cells naturally modify their own DNA to generate antibody diversity, a controlled genomic rearrangement distinct from general somatic engineering.

• Proposal to create novelty brain-slice coasters by fixating and laminating thin sections of real neural tissue as a potential micro-funding gimmick for microtome-imaging startups, though regulatory hurdles for animal-derived products were noted.

• Mention of new giant-piston coring devices (10+ m sediment cores) developed in the USA and France to improve sampling of deep-biosphere microbial communities for metagenomic studies.

• Brief exchange about a prospective “grave-robbing road-trip” to exhume DNA from historical geniuses’ remains for sequencing and analysis, framed as a half-serious open-science project.