Fresh Ideas Bloom in Gut Healthcare to Cross-Fertilize Lake Management.

Harmful bacteria may be the most significant threat to human gut and lake ecosystem health, and they are often managed using similar tools, like poisoning with antibiotics or algicides. Out-of-the-box thinking in human microbiome engineering is leading to novel methods, like engineering bacteria to kill pathogens, "persuade" them not to produce toxins, or "mop up" their toxins. The bacterial agent can be given a competitive edge via an exclusive nutrient, and they can be engineered to commit suicide once their work is done. Viruses can kill pathogens with specific DNA sequences or knock out their antibiotic resistance genes using CRISPR technology. Some of these ideas may work for lakes. We critically review novel methods for managing harmful bacteria in the gut from the perspective of managing toxic cyanobacteria in lakes, and discuss practical aspects such as modifying bacteria using genetic engineering or directed evolution, mass culturing and controlling the agents. A key knowledge gap is in the ecology of strains, like toxigenic vs nontoxigenic Microcystis, including allelopathic and Black Queen interactions. Some of the "gut methods" may have future potential for lakes, but there presently is no substitute for established management approaches, including reducing N and P nutrient inputs, and mitigating climate change.