Animal and plant microbiomes encompass diverse microbial communities that colonize
every accessible host tissue. These microbiomes enhance host functions, contributing to …

Antibiotics have natural functions, mostly involving cell-to-cell signaling networks. The
anthropogenic production of antibiotics, and its release in the microbiosphere results in a …

This article generalizes a set of core design principles for the efficacy of groups that was
originally derived for groups attempting to manage common-pool resources (CPRs) such as …

Microbes and microbiology are seldom encountered in philosophical accounts of the life
sciences. Although microbiology is a well-established science and microbes the basis of life …

Directed evolution has been used for decades to engineer biological systems at or below
the organismal level. Above the organismal level, a small number of studies have attempted …

Directed evolution is a form of artificial selection that has been used for decades to find
biomolecules and organisms with new or enhanced functional traits. Directed evolution can …

Microbial communities are complex multi-species assemblages that are characterized by a
multitude of interspecies interactions, which can range from mutualism to competition. The …

Background Artificial selection of microbial communities that perform better at a desired
process has seduced scientists for over a decade, but the method has not been …

Interactions among microbial cells can generate new chemistries and functions, but
exploitation requires establishment of communities that reliably recapitulate community-level …

Natural microbial communities perform many functions that are crucial for human well-being.
Yet we have very little control over them, and we do not know how to optimize their …