About this Research Topic
Host-microbiota interactions have increasingly been shown to play important roles in supporting or affecting host health. For example, in the plant, the root microbiota is able to solubilize phosphate, fix N2, produce plant growth hormones, antagonize pathogens, which eventually promote plant growth. In human, gut microbiota could contribute to several metabolic and immune-mediated diseases, such as obesity, intestinal inflammatory disease, malnutrition, and anti-cancer immunity. These broad host-microbiota interactions thus present the unique opportunity to treat and cure diseases by modulating the structure and function of the microbiota.
In the field of synthetic biology, principles of molecular biology and bioengineering are applied to design synthetic organisms with specific functions. By applying synthetic biology approaches, we can design non-pathogenic bacteria to sense and respond to environmental signals, which in the end will consume harmful compounds and deliver therapeutic effectors to cure diseases.
Currently, a wide array of tools has been developed in model microbial chassis for synthetic biology research, that enables researchers to engineer these organisms to address diseases. However, due to the lack of fundamental understanding of host and microbiota interactions, and limited techniques to develop biological tools for manipulating microbial chassis derived from the microbiota, there are still challenges for the application of these engineered biotherapeutics products. The aim of this research topic is to promote our understanding of host-microbiota interactions and advance our ability to design synthetic live biotherapeutic products for curing diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, phenylketonuria, hyperammonemia, diabetes, cancer, solid tumors, and other related diseases.
The current Research Topic focuses on publishing Original Research, Methods, Review, and Opinion articles focusing on but not limited to:
• Studying the diversity and dynamics of microbiota, and their impacts on host
• Unveiling the molecular mechanisms of host and microbiota interactions
• Applying and developing advanced techniques (de novo computational design, directed evolution, etc.) to build new biological tools in different chassis for studying or engineering host-microbiota interactions
• Engineering live microbiota for biotherapeutic applications (diagnosing, recording, curing disease, etc.)
• Studies that quantify and measure the safety and efficacy of engineered live biotherapeutic products in regulating host-microbiota interactions and curing diseases
In the field of synthetic biology, principles of molecular biology and bioengineering are applied to design synthetic organisms with specific functions. By applying synthetic biology approaches, we can design non-pathogenic bacteria to sense and respond to environmental signals, which in the end will consume harmful compounds and deliver therapeutic effectors to cure diseases.
Currently, a wide array of tools has been developed in model microbial chassis for synthetic biology research, that enables researchers to engineer these organisms to address diseases. However, due to the lack of fundamental understanding of host and microbiota interactions, and limited techniques to develop biological tools for manipulating microbial chassis derived from the microbiota, there are still challenges for the application of these engineered biotherapeutics products. The aim of this research topic is to promote our understanding of host-microbiota interactions and advance our ability to design synthetic live biotherapeutic products for curing diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, phenylketonuria, hyperammonemia, diabetes, cancer, solid tumors, and other related diseases.
The current Research Topic focuses on publishing Original Research, Methods, Review, and Opinion articles focusing on but not limited to:
• Studying the diversity and dynamics of microbiota, and their impacts on host
• Unveiling the molecular mechanisms of host and microbiota interactions
• Applying and developing advanced techniques (de novo computational design, directed evolution, etc.) to build new biological tools in different chassis for studying or engineering host-microbiota interactions
• Engineering live microbiota for biotherapeutic applications (diagnosing, recording, curing disease, etc.)
• Studies that quantify and measure the safety and efficacy of engineered live biotherapeutic products in regulating host-microbiota interactions and curing diseases
Keywords: Host-Microbiota interaction, Synthetic biology, Part design, Directed evolution, Biotheraputic products
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
