Introduction to Microbiome Engineering

Catalog description

The human microbiome impacts human health in a multitude of ways. To achieve a specific health outcome, we can modify the compositions of the microbiome, the molecules microbes produce, how they interact or how our body interacts with them. Yet, our current toolbox is fairly limited. In this course, we will examine current methods for intervening in the microbiome but focus primarily on cutting-edge technologies for microbiome-related therapeutics. This will include synthetic biology and genetic engineering approaches. Topics will include probiotics, antibiotics, drug discovery, live bacterial therapeutics, biosensors, phage therapies, bacterial evolution and engineering immune responses. We will touch on the safety implications of using different biological technologies. This course is designed for Masters-level students and advanced undergraduate students. There will be a computational component to this course, although no prior computational experience is required. Students will learn generalizable skills such as how to navigate the server, distinguish between the formats of genomics files, and employ command-line tools used in common genomic pipelines.