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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Assessing the Viability of a Synthetic Bacterial Consortium on the In Vitro Gut Host-microbe Interface
Published on: July 4, 2018
A cross-systems primer for synthetic microbial communities
Elijah C Mehlferber1,2, Gontran Arnault3, Bishnu Joshi4
1School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. emehlferber@berkeley.edu.
Abstract:
The design and use of synthetic communities, or SynComs, is one of the most promising strategies for disentangling the complex interactions within microbial communities, and between these communities and their hosts. Compared to natural communities, these simplified consortia provide the opportunity to study ecological interactions at tractable scales, as well as facilitating reproducibility and fostering interdisciplinary science. However, the effective implementation of the SynCom approach requires several important considerations regarding the development and application of these model systems. There are also emerging ethical considerations when both designing and deploying SynComs in clinical, agricultural or environmental settings. Here we outline current best practices in developing, implementing and evaluating SynComs across different systems, including a focus on important ethical considerations for SynCom research.
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