Engineered Probiotics: The Next‐Generation Therapeutics to Combat Antibiotic‐Resistant Bacterial Infections

ABSTRACT On a global scale, the escalating burden of infectious diseases, predominantly attributed to bacterial pathogens, especially drug‐resistant strains, has progressed into a critical concern for clinical management and public health systems. Antibiotics are the primary therapeutic agents used to treat bacterial infections; however, the ineffectiveness of antibiotics and the emergence of antibiotic‐resistant microorganisms have led researchers to search for novel drugs and therapeutic approaches. Previous studies demonstrated that probiotics benefit both diarrhea and inflammatory bowel disease. The beneficial impact of probiotics and advancements in genetic engineering strategies shift conventional probiotics towards engineered probiotics to cope with drug‐resistant bacterial infections. Expansion of research in this direction has proved that engineered probiotics are beneficial for clearing drug‐resistant bacterial infections. Thus, to explore the possibility of mitigating drug‐resistant infection with engineered probiotics, this review outlines engineered probiotics, a next‐generation live therapeutic approach, its mechanisms, and the therapeutic efficacy against drug‐resistant bacteria compared to conventional probiotics. This review presents the disparate hurdles associated with traditional probiotics and the emergence of engineered probiotics as an effective therapy against antibiotic‐resistant microbes and their mechanisms.