Engineered live bacteria as disease detection and diagnosis tools.

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Synthetic Biology
• Medical Diagnostics

Background:

• Sensitive and minimally invasive diagnostics are crucial for early disease detection and management.
• Engineered bacteria offer a novel approach to biosensing, providing robust, noninvasive, and cost-effective solutions.
• Current diagnostic technologies face limitations in detecting certain biomarkers and in situ disease states.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the unique advantages of using bacteria as living sensors for medical diagnostics.
• To describe various bacteria-based diagnostic approaches and their applications in disease detection.
• To explore the potential of bacteria as imaging vectors and in image-guided surgery.

Main Methods:

• Summarizing the benefits of bacteria as living sensors.
• Describing bacteria-based diagnosis strategies and providing examples.
• Discussing the use of bacteria in medical imaging and image-guided surgery.

Main Results:

• Engineered bacteria function as sophisticated biosensors programmed with genetic rules and logic gates.
• Bacteria-based whole-cell biosensors (BWCBs) can perform detection, recording, and closed-loop treatment regulation.
• Applications span early disease detection, monitoring, and image-guided interventions.

Conclusions:

• Bacteria-based diagnostics present significant opportunities for sensitive, in situ disease detection and treatment.
• Further research is needed to address challenges and facilitate clinical translation of these innovative systems.
• Engineered bacteria hold promise for revolutionizing medical diagnostics and therapeutic strategies.