Probiotics: From natural to artificial.

Artificial probiotics engineered with advanced technologies may surpass natural strains in functionality and stress tolerance for diverse health and environmental applications.

• Why it matters: Natural probiotics often lack specific functions, stress resilience, and optimal performance, limiting their effectiveness in health and industrial uses. Improving these traits is crucial for advancing probiotic applications.
• What they did: The review details core technologies such as AI, high-throughput screening, directed evolution, genetic engineering, and gene editing used to develop high-performance artificial probiotics, with applications in gut regulation, disease treatment, and bioremediation.
• The result: These engineered probiotics could enable personalized therapies, improve safety and efficacy, and expand industrial uses, although challenges remain in biosafety, regulation, and in vivo adaptability.