Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC

Sounds.

I'm Alice Roberts and you've just downloaded Inside Science, originally broadcast on Boxing Day 2013. We've got some bacteriophages, electric flowers and a genetic

catalogue of all life on the planet for you. If you're really keen on looking at our terms and

conditions, they're on the radio for a website.

I don't know how you're feeling today, perhaps a little weary and overfed,

but you might be glad to listen to something that doesn't in fact include any references to turkeys, cranberries, sprouts, tinsel, holly or ivy.

What we've got instead is some very interesting science, which we've picked because we thought

it was fascinating and not because we're

trying to shoehorn it into any festive theme. We'll look at the latest weapon being

developed in the endless arms race against bacteria and infection.

We'll also look at the electrical properties of flowers

and catch up on an international project

aiming to build a genetic catalogue of everything alive on the planet.

And of course, there's show us your instrument,

where we'll be finding out how to sniff out disease.

First, we're looking at bacterial infections

...