What is synthetic ecology?

At present, people are very interested in how to use different microbiota (such as the microbiota composed of all the bacteria in our intestines) to promote human health and treat diseases

"Microorganisms affect us humans through their own metabolic processes, and affect our planet through their consumption and secretion.

However, unlike many other synthetic biologists who are committed to directly enhancing or genetically engineering microorganisms, Segregrave; he is more interested in how to guide the behavior of microorganisms by adjusting the environmental conditions in which the microorganisms are located.

"The more traditional approach to synthetic biology is to manipulate the microbe's genome," Segregrave said; but we are trying to use environmental molecules to manipulate the microbial ecosystem

In a new study recently published in Nature Communications, Segregrave; Pacheco and their collaborator Melisa Osborne (Melisa Osborne), a research scientist in Segregrave; studied 32 The existence of different kinds of environmental molecules or nutrients, alone or in combination with other substances, will affect the growth rate of the microbial community and the mixture of different species that constitute a specific microbial community.

But the results of the experiment surprised the research team

So, what is the mechanism that controls the diversity of microorganisms? "It will take some time to find out the reasons for all these interactions; although in their experiments, increasing the diversity of food sources did not increase the diversity of microbes, but more food did promote the growth of more microbes.

Pacheco added that if someone can consume something, others can surpass them in this regard.

The research team plans to conduct more studies on other environmental factors, investigating how the availability and diversity of nutrients change the microbial community over time, and how the medium in which the microbial community is located affects the consumption and secretion of its molecules

Further opening and ultimately using all these environmental "knobs" can open the door to the use of the microbiome to influence human metabolism and health or disease states.

Journal Reference :

1. Alan R.