Probiotics versus Microbiome Engineering (Biotechnology and Society 2016)

Probiotics versus Microbiome Engineering (Biotechnology and Society 2016)

Everyone

There are lots of silly microbiome pictures out there. (Image from this site) ]

Required Reading/Viewing

1. [1] "How our microbes make us who we are". (17 min)
   Talk by Rob Knight about the human microbiome, Feb 2014.
2. [2] "Microbiome engineering." Brief Sonnenburg article on potential applications of microbiome engineering.
3. [3] Achievements and future prospects in microbiome engineering.
4. [4] Brief description of four companies currently designing microbiome therapies.
5. NIH Microbiome Project. Ethical concerns of microbiome research and probiotics. Read abstract for each section.
   

1. Fecal Transplants

Required Reading/Viewing

1. [5] Fecal microbiome transplant in the treatment of C. difficile
2. [6] History of fecal transplants.
3. [7] Slideshow summary of fecal microbiome transplants by gastroenterologists (some medical jargon, but informative).
4. [8] Do it yourself fecal transplants. Yep.

2. Microbiome and Obesity

Required Reading/Viewing

1. [9] Summary of possible mechanisms relating gut microbiome to obesity.
   
2. [10] Recent review critiquing microbiome role in obesity.

3. Microbiome after birth and in development

Required Reading/Viewing

1. [11] Scientists swab C-section babies with mothers' microbes
2. [12] Effect of antibiotics on microbiome throughout development

4. Oral Microbiome Engineering

Required Reading/Viewing

1. [13] Oragenics, a company devoted to engineering the oral microbiome.
2. [14] Hillman, J.D. (2002) Genetically modified Streptococcus mutans for the prevention of dental caries. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 82::361-366.