E. coli engineered from stool samples can survive the hostile gut environment long enough to treat disease

Scientists have long tried to introduce genetically engineered bacteria into the gut to treat diseases. In the past, these attempts have focused on engineering common lab strains of E. coli, which cannot compete with the native gut bacteria that are well adapted to their host. Now, a group of researchers successfully engineered E. coli collected from both human and mice gut microbiomes and showed that they have the potential to treat diseases such as diabetes.