Haiwei Luo is a marine microbiologist and population geneticist whose laboratory recently isolated evolutionarily young endosymbiotic marine bacteria. These bacteria have undergone genome-wide changes, including insertion sequence expansion and pseudogene proliferation - hallmarks of a recent shift from a free - living to a host-dependent lifestyle. His research team is developing endosymbionts as next-generation marine probiotics to enhance the resilience of hosts such as corals and oysters in warming, acidifying oceans. He is currently seeking advanced molecular and cellular biology tools to study the interactions between these endosymbiotic bacteria and their hosts.