Deciphering function and evolution of biological systems

The main focus of this computational biology group is the analysis of microbiome data, from both the human gut and the environment. We integrate metagenomic data with associated metadata and other omics data to develop a global understanding of the interactions between bacteria and their environment and to gain insight on the development and progression of diseases. Current and past projects include:

In addition, we are involved in projects with other groups at EMBL, e.g. to study the interactions of proteins in the model bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae. For more information on our research, please also see our homepage on the main EMBL website.

Selected recent publications

  • Fecal microbial load is a major determinant of gut microbiome variation and a confounder for disease associations
    Nishijima et al., Cell, 2024

  • Paternal microbiome perturbations impact offspring fitness
    Argaw-Denboba et al., Nature, 2024

  • SPIRE: a Searchable, Planetary-scale mIcrobiome REsource
    Schmidt et al., Nucleic Acids Research, 2024

  • Functional and evolutionary significance of unknown genes from uncultivated taxa
    Rodríguez del Río et al., Nature, 2023

  • Drivers and determinants of strain dynamics following fecal microbiota transplantation
    Schmidt et al., Nature Medicine, 2022

  • A faecal microbiota signature with high specificity for pancreatic cancer
    Kartal et al., Gut, 2022


Research highlights from the past

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