Gaming bacterial metabolism
Nature Microbiology volume 8, pages 1004–1005 (2023 )Cite this article
Many microorganisms remain understudied due to the challenges and complexities of culturing. An integrated lab automation and machine learning platform called BacterAI could be the future.
Advances in sequencing technology have greatly expanded our ability to identify and survey the staggeringly diverse and ever-expanding microbial world1. Newly discovered species could be an untapped source of novel bioactive molecules such as antibiotics2; however, the potential of this vast microbial diversity has not been fully realized. Fewer than 2% of all microbial species are currently culturable3. This is due to a lack of knowledge about growth requirements3,4, and the tedious, labour-intensive experiments that stand in the way of this essential knowledge.
Valeri, J.A., Krishnan, A. & Collins, J.J. Gaming bacterial metabolism. Nat Microbiol 8, 1004–1005 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01390-2
