There are various people, labs, and organizations that contribute to my work. At this seminar, I will introduce my research with Professor Wanner and discuss ongoing projects with collaborators. There are four different aspects of the Wanner lab's work, and the work of others that I demonstrate the array of our ongoing studies. First, I will describe our current work on tool development for the minimum cell project, transcriptome profiling in E. coli, and a two-step method to modify chromosomal genes; this project was my motivation to go abroad and study in the Wanner lab. I will then introduce the work that other members of the lab are doing with collaborators. Next, I will talk about some of the projects being pursued in Church lab at Harvard Medical School with a focus on the work of my lab mates in room233. Their projects illustrate the wide variety of research directions in the Church lab, but also highlight important collaboration efforts. Finally, I will address the next research steps we want to take, experimental design with collaborators, and plan how to take advantage of the wealth of bio-resources available to us.