Microbiome engineering using light-activated synthetic cells

开发工具以了解和操纵微生物组内的相互作用对于研究人类健康和作为未来的治疗方法至关重要。合成细胞是由简单的模块化部件组装而成的表达基因的隔间，可以用来与自然细胞交流和操纵。我们以前已经产生了光激活的合成细胞，可以通过在光照后原位合成群体感应分子来调节邻近细菌的表达。在这个项目中，合成细胞将被设计成检测和调节细菌克隆的变化，最终目标是时空微生物组工程。

Developing tools to understand and manipulate interactions within the microbiome isof vital importance for studying human health and as future therapies. Synthetic cells,gene-expressing compartments assembled from simple, modular parts, can be used tocommunicate and manipulate natural cells. We have previously generated lightactivatedsynthetic cells that can modulate the expression of neighbouring bacteria bysynthesising quorum-sensing molecules in-situ, following illumination. In this project,synthetic cells will be engineered to detect and modulate changes in bacterial colonieswith the ultimate goal of spatiotemporal microbiome engineering.