Nathan Crook

Bio

Research Areas:

Metabolic Engineering, Synthetic Biology, Microbial Ecology

The Crook Lab develops new high-throughput experimental and computational genetic engineering techniques. In doing so, we hope to uncover novel biological phenomena and accelerate applied research and development in the broad areas of metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and microbial ecology.

Our current application focus is the human gut microbiota. The ability of the gut microbiota to influence health has recently been uncovered, enabled by high-throughput DNA sequencing and animal models in which community composition is precisely controlled. The ultimate goal of this focus is the development of foundational technologies by which engineered gut commensal ecosystems can be designed and assembled as a matter of practice, enabling the conversion of food into a healthy mixture of energy, nutrients, and therapeutics.

Publications

• A cell-free transcription-translation pipeline for recreating methylation patterns boosts DNA transformation in bacteria , MOLECULAR CELL (2024)
• Chips, guts, and gas: unraveling volatile microbial mysteries in real time! , TRENDS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY (2024)
• Programming Probiotics: Diet-Responsive Gene Expression and Colonization Control in Engineered S. boulardii , ACS Synthetic Biology (2024)
• The Carotenoids , ADVANCES IN NUTRITION (2024)
• The biochemical mechanisms of plastic biodegradation , FEMS Microbiology Reviews (2024)
• An integrated chemical engineering approach to understanding microplastics , AICHE JOURNAL (2023)
• Breakdown of polyethylene therepthalate microplastics under saltwater conditions using engineered Vibrio natriegens , AICHE JOURNAL (2023)
• Carotenoids in Health as Studied by Omics-Related Endpoints , ADVANCES IN NUTRITION (2023)
• Cellulose Acetate-Stabilized Pickering Emulsions: Preparation, Rheology, and Incorporation of Agricultural Active Ingredients , ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING (2023)
• Design of 8-mer Peptides that Block Clostridioides difficile Toxin A in Intestinal Cells , (2023)