Directed evolution of synthetic coexistence:A new path towards ecosystem design?

In nature, microorganisms never live alone but rather build interconnected communities, able to perform complex biochemical tasks that are essential to the function of most of earth’s ecosystems. By comparison, the microorganisms we rely on as chassis for synthetic biology lead relatively simple, isolated lives. However, mimicking the natural complexity of microbiomes can help synthetic biologists realize more advanced functionalities; e.g. as shown for the efficient biosynthesis of oxygenated taxanes (precursors of the antitumor agent paclitaxel) in a two-species ecosystem (1)