10 Applications of Microbiome Engineering
In the last
post, we discussed about Microbiome Engineering and Steps involved and How Microbiome Engineering works with an example?
Watch our Simple Summary Video: What is Microbiome Engineering? Steps involved and Applications
Microbiome engineering is the purposeful manipulation of microbial communities—through the addition, removal, or modification of specific microbes, genes, or community structures—to confer beneficial functions to hosts such as humans, animals, or plants.
In this post lets understand the general applications
Human health:
Engineering the gut microbiome to
improve digestion, treat metabolic and inflammatory diseases, and support drug
metabolism.
1. Treatment of metabolic diseases: Engineered microbes can regulate
blood glucose, impacting diabetes and obesity therapy.
2. Prevention of surgical complications: Engineered probiotics and synbiotics minimize post-operative infections when used as part of bowel preparation.
3. Gut-brain axis modulation: Material technologies allow precise
control of microbes that influence neurological and psychological health.
4. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) management: Engineered microbial
therapies can restore intestinal homeostasis and mitigate inflammatory gut
disorders.
5. Drug delivery and biosensing: Biomaterial-based oral delivery
systems help transport engineered bacterial consortia and monitor metabolic
activities in situ.
6. Selective bacterial knockdown: CRISPR/phage technology is used to
suppress pathogenic bacteria while sparing beneficial ones.
In Plants
7. Agricultural productivity:
Enhancing plant growth, stress
resilience, nutrient cycling, and disease resistance through manipulation of
root and leaf microbiomes.
8. Food safety and quality:
Modulating microbial communities
during food production to prevent spoilage and pathogens.
9. Environmental management:
Restoring ecosystem functions,
bioremediation of pollutants, and climate resilience through ecological
microbiome interventions.
10. Biocontrol and sustainability:
Reducing need for chemical
pesticides and fertilizers by shifting microbiome composition toward
beneficial, naturally occurring microbes.
These are some of the active
areas of research related to microbiome engineering.
Thank you
Reference
Yang L, Hung LY, Zhu Y, Ding S,
Margolis KG, Leong KW. Material Engineering in Gut Microbiome and Human Health.
Research (Wash D C). 2022 Jul 20;2022
Shiny, E., Mathew, J., Jacob, A.,
& Rajashree, H. S. (2025). Microbiome Engineering to Improve Biocontrol and
Plant Growth-Promoting Mechanisms. In Microbiome Engineering (pp. 149-155). CRC
Press.
Albright, M. B., Louca, S.,
Winkler, D. E., Feeser, K. L., Haig, S. J., Whiteson, K. L., ... & Dunbar,
J. (2022). Solutions in microbiome engineering: prioritizing barriers to
organism establishment. The ISME Journal, 16(2), 331-338.