Scientists Engineered Probiotic Bacteria That Hunt Tumors and Kill Cancer Cells

Researchers just turned a common gut bacterium into a programmable cancer-fighting machine. The bacteria colonize tumors, produce an FDA-approved anticancer drug inside them, and leave healthy tissue alone. What They Actually Did A team at Shandong University in Qingdao, China, took Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) — a harmless probiotic strain that's been used safely in humans for over a century — and genetically engineered it to produce Romidepsin (FK228). Romidepsin is already FDA-approved for treating certain lymphomas. The trick was getting bacteria to manufacture it. Through a combination of genetic and genomic engineering, they built a version of EcN that biosynthesizes Romidepsin on its own. No external drug delivery needed. The bacteria are the drug factory. The results, published March 17 in PLOS Biology, showed the engineered bacteria accumulated inside breast cancer tumors in mice and released the drug directly at the tumor site. Tumors shrank significantly. Healthy cells