• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Gut Reboot: Engineered Bacteria

Recently funded DARPA initiative at Harvard's Wyss Institute aims to engineer E. Coli that can monitor gut health.

These bacteria can detect things such as presence of harmful bacteria or gut inflammation, at which point the engineered bacteria change color, and when excreted, also change stool color so you have visible indicators of gut health. Furthermore, the bacteria can be engineered to release toxins that will kill off harmful bacteria.

This can be promising for CD treatment if microbiome changes proves out to be culprit. You can engineer attacks against specific targets without causing harm to friendly bacteria.

http://wyss.harvard.edu/viewpressrelease/203/
 
Top