A wide range of applications from the food and beverage fermentations to industrial biotechnology uses microbial cells. However, cells’ performance is tightly coupled to cellular physiology, which adapts phenotypically and evolves in response to genetic, biotic, and chemical conditions.
Our research seeks to uncover underlying mechanisms, and develop methods and approaches for controlling, and taking advantage of the physiology of microbial cells and communities in applications. We are uniquely advancing predictive adaptive evolution of wild type and engineered strains and an assembly of synthetic and optimized microbial communities.
For achieving the scientific aims, we develop and combine the technologies of:
- computational modelling (i.e., mechanistic metabolic and data-driven modelling), with
- quantitative experimental research, including synthetic biology, and microbial community culturing
Research group members
Latest Aalto publications
Laura R.K. Niemelä, Isabell Tunn, Alexander D. Frey
2026
Molecular Biology Reports
Sofia Guridi Sotomayor, Fevzihan Basarir, Mijung Cho, An Nguyen, Jaana Vapaavuori, Michael Hummel
2025
2024 International Conference on the Challenges, Opportunities, Innovations and Applications in Electronic Textiles (E-Textiles)
Natalia Kakko von Koch, Tuula Tenkanen, Sandra Castillo, Virve Vidgren, Tino Koponen, Kristoffer Krogerus, Merja Penttilä, Paula Jouhten
2025
Metabolic Engineering Communications
An Nguyen, Isabell Tunn, Merja Penttilä, Alexander Frey
2025
ACS Synthetic Biology
Laura R. K. Niemelä, András Pásztor, Alexander D. Frey
2025
Applied Microbiology & Biotechnology
Linda Porri, Sandra Castillo, Paula Jouhten
2025
Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
Fevzihan Basarir, Yazan Al Haj, Fangxin Zou, Swarnalok De, An Nguyen, Alexander Frey, Ijlal Haider, Veikko Sariola, Jaana Vapaavuori
2024
Advanced Functional Materials
Payam Ghiaci, Paula Jouhten, Nikolay Martyushenko, Helena Roca-Mesa, Jennifer Vázquez, Dimitrios Konstantinidis, Simon Stenberg, Sergej Andrejev, Kristina Grkovska, Albert Mas, Gemma Beltran, Eivind Almaas, Kiran R. Patil, Jonas Warringer
2024
MOLECULAR SYSTEMS BIOLOGY
Natalia Kakko, Anssi Rantasalo, Tino Koponen, Virve Vidgren, Matti Kannisto, Natalia Maiorova, Heli Nygren, Dominik Mojzita, Merja Penttilä, Paula Jouhten
2023
ACS Synthetic Biology
Jakob P. Pettersen, Sandra Castillo, Paula Jouhten, Eivind Almaas
2023
BMC Bioinformatics
More information on our research in the Aalto research portal.