...to the Laboratory for Food Systems Biotechnology

Can we engineer microbial communities to promote food quality and security, and to optimize functional roles in human digestion and health? Humans have exploited microbial ecosystems for millennia to provide invaluable services (e.g., in food fermentations), but microbial manipulation remains challenging in complex systems where high diversity is an inherent feature (e.g., mammalian and plant microbiomes). Predicting system-level behavior will unlock the potential to rationally manipulate and regulate diverse microbial communities. The Food Systems Biotechnology group develops computational methods and utilizes "omics" technologies to study microbial ecosystems in food production and human health, with the ultimate goal of creating microbial communities and products that optimize food quality, safety, and human health.