Next-generation bacteriophage therapeutic systems: CRISPR-based engineering, near-infrared bioimaging, and precision strategies for treating multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant bacterial infections

. We also summarize practical constraints that remain central to clinical translation, manufacturing quality, host immune neutralization, and regulatory variability, and outline a realistic development pathway in which engineered phages and companion diagnostics progress from animal models to carefully defined clinical indications. Together, these advances support a shift from empirical phage use toward a more standardized, data-driven approach to treating drug-resistant infections.