Once the finished genome was inserted into the genome-free bacteria, the work regressed to the sort of microbiology that would have been familiar to the science's 19th-century pioneers.
Although these tests showed little difference between the group taking the probiotic, and the group taking the ingredient-free placebo, far fewer children receiving the bacteria developed eczema.
In an oxygen-free (anaerobic) environment at a certain temperature, pH and salinity, the bacteria can produce a toxin that in very small amounts can cause life-threatening paralysis.