The human microbiome is evolving rapidly (i.e. over our lifetimes) following the changes in modern lifestyles, especially in industrialized countries. Our lab aims to understand how horizontal gene transfer shapes interactions in the human intestinal microbiota and what the implications of this widespread phenomenon are for community properties relevant to human health (for example, the ability to bounce back after antibiotic treatment). There is currently only a superficial understanding of the different cellular roles of most exchanged genes and how they affect community dynamics. The García-Bayona lab works on bridging the existing gap between the current systems-level observational studies and a mechanistic understanding through bacterial genetics and physiology. We take a bottom-up approach (from genes to communities), incorporating genetics, metagenomics, population analyses and experimental evolution in tractable bacterial consortia.