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Team:UCSF/Project
From 2013.igem.org
Rarely in nature do bacterial strains exist in isolation; they form complex microbial communities that interact with various organisms. In these communities, there are few ways to target specific strains effectively. The way people control bacteria is through antibiotics, which for the most part act indiscriminately. But often, problems stem from a single species that has invaded the microbial community; normal balanced microbiomes are not only harmless, but are often crucial and positively contribute to an environment. Because most therapies disrupt this balance, there is an obvious need for specific targeting of species in microbial communities.
