Automatic designing a plasmid such that it will be expressed only in sub-set of organisms in a microbiomes/community.
Current microbiome engineering techniques are usually manually tailored for a specific system and neglect the different interactions between the new genetic information and the bacterial population, turning a blind eye to processes such as horizontal gene transfer, mutations, and other genetic alterations.

OUR SOLUTION
We developed a generic computational method to automatically tune the expression of heterologous genes within a microbiome according to given preferences, to allow the functionality of the engineering process to propagate in longer periods of time. This goal was achieved by treating each part of the gene individually and considering long term fitness effects on the environment.

APPLICATIONS
The approach can be used to engineer any microbiomes/community to solve problems in fields such as metabolic engineering, food-tech, agriculture, safety issues related to GMO, etc.

STATUS
We developed a computational tool to design plasmids such that they fit the objective mentioned above. We provide computational and experimental evidence for our approach.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
A patent was submitted (PCT/IL2022/050930, PCT/IL2022/050930). In addition, the lab has relevant know-how which includes dozens of relevant models and algorithms.

REFERENCES
1. Modulating Gene Expression within a Microbiome Based on Computational Models
L Chitayat Levi, I Rippin, M Ben Tulila, R Galron, T Tuller. Biology 11 (9), 1301

2. Using Computational Synthetic Biology Tools to Modulate Gene Expression Within a Microbiome
L Chitayat Levi, I Rippin, M Ben Tulila, R Galron, T Tuller. RECOMB International Workshop on Comparative Genomics, 235-259