Integrated Systems Biology for Phage/Microbiome Modeling

Diane Joseph-McCarthy of EnBiotix Inc. in the U.S. will use a systems biology approach incorporating gene, protein and metabolic data to computationally model the complex interplay between specific microbes in the gut and the host response, and the effect of phage, to enhance our understanding of pathogenic diseases and identify new treatments. They will use a mouse model of enteropathogenic E. coli infection and measure the effect of treatment with phage on the genetic or molecular response of both the host and the resident bacterial populations, as well as the interactions between the two. These data will be incorporated with other publicly available data and modeling algorithms used to produce a visual interaction network that can generate hypotheses for experimental testing.