Sustainable Microbiome: a symphony orchestrated by synthetic phages

We are surrounded by microbes, mostly bacteria and their viruses or phages, on the inside and outside of our bodies. These bacteria in constant interactions with phages are regulating multiple functions critical to our health. Luckily, they are amenable, but we need precise tools for their safe manipulation and improving human health. Here, we argue that recent advances in single-cell technologies, culturomics and synthetic biology offer exciting opportunities to create these tools as well as revealing specific phages-bacteria interactions in the body.

Automated summary

Microbes, especially bacteria and their viruses or phages, play a critical role in regulating various functions important to human health. Advances in single-cell technologies, culturomics, and synthetic biology provide exciting opportunities to create precise tools for manipulating these microbes safely, and to study specific phages-bacteria interactions within the body.