Advances in synthetic biology have made microbes easier to engineer than ever before. However, synthetic biology in animals and plants has lagged behind. Since it is now known that the phenotype of higher organisms depends largely on their microbiota, we propose that this is an easier route to achieving synthetic biology applications in these organisms.

中文翻译：

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微生物干预是改造高等生物的更容易的选择

合成生物学的进步使微生物比以往更容易工程。但是，动植物的合成生物学已经落后了。既然现在知道高等生物的表型在很大程度上取决于它们的微生物群，我们建议这是在这些生物中实现合成生物学应用的更简便途径。