Technical Themes

Technical Themes of Microbiome Engineering

The technical themes of Microbiome Engineering focus on three key areas of engineering microbiome research and development. Each technical theme has a series of aspirational goals that drive the progression of research and development. Construction of the technical roadmap is accomplished through delineation of milestones at 2, 5, 10, and 20 years and each milestone is elaborated by anticipated or imagined bottlenecks and creative potential solutions. The 2-year and 5-year milestones are intended to signify objectives that can be reached with current or recently implemented funding programs, as well as existing infrastructure and facilities resources. The 10-year and 20-year milestones are expected to be more ambitious achievements that may require (and thus, result in) significant technical advancements and/or increased funding and resources and new and improved infrastructure. The goals and breakthrough capabilities therefore represent the visionary 20+ year aspirations for the technical themes.

For a discussion of advancements that are necessary and will have a significant impact across the technical themes in microbiome engineering, please see Transformative Tools and Technologies.