A well-known bacteria can be engineered to detect signs of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) flare-ups, perhaps paving the way for noninvasive monitoring of this often debilitating group of illnesses.
IBD includes conditions of chronic inflammation of the gut like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. These disorders cause symptoms such as chronic diarrhea, pain, and fatigue, and can sometimes require surgery to remove damaged areas of the intestines. Managing these conditions often relies on self-reporting of symptoms, or in some cases, lab testing that must be done at facilities outside of hospitals and doctors’ offices.
▲E. coli Nissle 1917 is one of many beneficial bacteria varieties that live in the human gut. To better detect flare-ups of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), researchers have engineered these bacteria to sense calprotectin, a protein that spikes when IBD is active. They first tested the engineered bacteria strain in mice, proving the technique’s efficacy.
In a new study, researchers led by Arthur...
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