New technologies for developing phage-based tools to manipulate the human microbiome

Abstract

Gut bacteria play an essential role in the human body by regulating multiple functions, producing essential metabolites, protecting against pathogen invasion, and much more. Conversely, changes in their community structure are linked to several gastrointestinal (GI) and non-GI conditions. Fortunately, these bacteria are amenable to external perturbations, but we need specific tools for their safe manipulation as nonspecific changes can cause unpredicted long-term consequences. Here, we mainly discuss recent advances in cultivation-independent technologies and argue their relevance to different key steps, that is, identifying the modulation targets and developing phage-based tools to precisely modulate gut bacteria and restore a sustainable microbiome in humans. We finally suggest multiple modulating strategies for different dysbiosis-associated diseases.

Keywords: cultivation-independent technologies; microbiome manipulation; multi-omics; phages; viral-tagging.