ABSTRACT
Microbes are present all around people in the soil, water, and air of the natural environment, in and on plants, animals, and humans. Microbes live in diverse microbial communities that perform essential functions in their ecosystems. Many of the examples of microbiome engineering to date involve the human microbiome, likely because the human microbiome influences physiology, and has been implicated in human health and diseases, such as gut infections, diabetes, and cancer and it can be manipulated in situ. In addition to in situ microbiome engineering methods and approaches, another recent development in microbiome engineering is the design of synthetic microbial communities, which involves assembling multiple microbial species into consortia. Various selection methods can be applied to engineer human, animal, and plant microbiomes to have novel and/or improved functions. Engineered microbial systems must account for environmental relationships, spatial distribution, and abundance of participating members.
