Functional Microbiomes & Biotransformation
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Research area 02 · Decode
Functional microbiomes & biotransformation
Decode the mechanisms behind biotransformation.
Molecular measurements connect community behavior to specific biological mechanisms.
What we investigate
We enrich, isolate, and characterize functional environmental microbiomes that transform anthropogenic chemicals and natural toxins. Synthetic communities help us test how organisms interact and how community structure changes function.
Core questions
- Which microbes carry out a transformation?
- Which genes, enzymes, and pathways control the reaction?
- How do environmental conditions and community interactions change activity?
How we work
Targeted cultivation, meta-omics, real-time PCR, molecular microbiology, and biochemical validation connect ecosystem-scale behavior to mechanism.
What this enables
Mechanism-resolved microbiomes for bioremediation, resource recovery, and better prediction of chemical fate.