Phoebe uses molecular biology to study natural transformation in the bacterium Acinetobacter baylyi. Natural transformation is a process in which the bacteria build a nanomachine from many component protein parts, and then use that nanomachine to bind to extracellular DNA, import that DNA across their cell walls and cell membranes, and then incorporate that DNA into their genomes, using it as a source of new genetic information. In collaboration with Kristine Lang, Phoebe is attempting to characterize the nanomachines using atomic force microscopy, while also using genetics and biochemistry to define the component parts of the nyanomachine. Phoebe is also writing a textbook for upper-level undergraduates majoring in the biological sciences. The Garland Press textbook is provisionally titled “The Molecular and Cellular Biology of Viruses.”