The remarkable diversity of microbial metabolism can be harnessed for biotechnology and novel catalytic functions. However, limited understanding of metabolic details and physiological regulation hinders rational engineering strategies. To address this challenge, the extraordinary natural transformability and recombinational efficiency of Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 can be harnessed for metabolic engineering. An approach that exploits targeted chromosomal gene amplification can be used to confer new phenotypes that are then honed and improved via adaptive laboratory evolution. Resulting mutants are readily analyzed using small linear fragments as donor DNA to transform naturally competent recipient strains. This presentation describes several examples of rewiring metabolism to alter the synthesis or degradation of aromatic compounds, which are important chemicals for biomanufacturing and bio remediation. The metabolic versatility and genetic malleability of this bacterium will be further developed via collaboration with researchers at Argonne National Laboratory to enable this bacterium to serve as a platform organism for artificial intelligence (AI) and biological design. https://mib.uga.edu/directory/people/ellen-l-neidle