Engineered Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron sense gut inflammation and deliver therapeutic molecules to alleviate colitis in mice

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02378-4 Engineered Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Btbots, use a genetic AND circuit to sense nitric oxide and deoxycholic acid as inflammatory signal in the gut to release therapeutic molecules, TFF3 and IL-35, that alleviate colitis in mice.