A course on microbial genetics, emphasizing the history of the discipline as well as modern approaches. Students will be exposed to different ways of manipulating microbial genomes (primarily bacterial, but we will also cover archaea and microbial eukaryotes). The power of microbial genetics to shed light on diverse process will be discussed in a variety of contexts, ranging from environmental science to the mammalian microbiome. Given in alternate years; offered 2023-24.