Breaking Barriers: Novel techniques for microbial ecology

This session highlights emerging technologies that redefine how we observe, interpret, and model microbial systems – from single-cell biochemistry to artificial intelligence-based data integration. Speakers will present methods that illuminate microbial identity, metabolism, and spatial organization at unprecedented molecular resolution, while also showcasing how large language models can transform microbiome and virome analysis. This session showcases how emerging technologies are not merely improving existing approaches, but redefining what is experimentally and analytically possible in microbial ecology.

Convenors
Michael Wagner, University of Vienna, Austria
Cynthia Whitchurch, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Invited Speakers
Libusha Kelly, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, United States
Michael Wagner, University of Vienna, Austria