Physiochemically and Genetically Engineered Bacteria: Instructive Design Principles and Diverse Applications

Abstract With the comprehensive understanding of microorganisms and the rapid advances of physiochemical engineering and bioengineering technologies, scientists are advancing rationally‐engineered bacteria as emerging drugs for treating various diseases in clinical disease management. Engineered bacteria specifically refer to advanced physiochemical or genetic technologies in combination with cutting edge nanotechnology or physical technologies, which have been validated to play significant roles in lysing tumors, regulating immunity, influencing the metabolic pathways, etc. However, there has no specific reviews that concurrently cover physiochemically‐ and genetically‐engineered bacteria and their derivatives yet, let alone their distinctive design principles and various functions and applications. Herein, the applications of physiochemically and genetically‐engineered bacteria, and classify and discuss significant breakthroughs with an emphasis on their specific design principles and engineering methods objective to different specific uses and diseases beyond cancer is described. The combined strategies for developing in vivo biotherapeutic agents based on these physiochemically‐ and genetically‐engineered bacteria or bacterial derivatives, and elucidated how they repress cancer and other diseases is also underlined. Additionally, the challenges faced by clinical translation and the future development directions are discussed. This review is expected to provide an overall impression on physiochemically‐ and genetically‐engineered bacteria and enlighten more researchers.