The Goals of GutWorks

The complexity of the microbiota and the strict and varied growth requirements of individual bacterial species complicates efforts to understand—at a mechanistic level—
how our gut microbiota influence our health.

By capitalizing on our combined expertise in bacteriology, microfluidics, high-throughput screening, host-microbe interactions, and imaging, the GutWorks team will assemble millions of transposon mutants across a wide diversity of bacterial species in order to:

  • Generate comprehensive genetic tools for the majority of gut commensals

  • Quantify genotype-phenotype relationships

  • Determine fitness in vitro and in vivo.

By achieving these goals, GutWorks will transform how we probe and exploit the microbiome’s role in human health.

Excitingly, we’ll uncover critical components for precisely engineering the microbiota and for developing synthetic communities to treat diseases and to improve wellness.