Prediction & Microbiome Engineering

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A central goal of my research is to move from describing microbial diversity toward understanding the principles that make microbial community trajectories predictable.

I am interested in how genomic potential, ecological interactions, environmental filtering, disturbance, and community history combine to determine whether microbial functions emerge, persist, recover, or reorganize. I use environmental microbiomes as complex natural systems in which these processes can be studied across spatial, temporal, and ecological gradients.

This research integrates genome-resolved metagenomics, comparative genomics, ecological modeling, bioinformatics, and experimental approaches. We also develop computational tools and genomic resources that make it possible to characterize previously undescribed microbial and viral diversity and connect that diversity to ecological function.

In the longer term, I aim to test whether principles derived from natural microbial communities can be used to predict community responses and guide the design or selection of microbiomes with desired functions. Rather than treating microbiome engineering as a purely technological problem, my approach begins with ecological and evolutionary mechanisms: understanding what allows a community and its functions to assemble and remain stable before attempting to intervene.

Prediction | M. Vázquez Rosas Landa

Prediction & Microbiome Engineering