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Review
. 2025 Apr 23:16:1507491.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1507491. eCollection 2025.

Innovative applications and research advances of bacterial biosensors in medicine

Mengting Liu  1   2 , Wenjie Yang  1   2 , Wenqi Zhu  2 , Daojun Yu  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Innovative applications and research advances of bacterial biosensors in medicine

Mengting Liu et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

The demand for early disease detection, treatment monitoring, and personalized medicine is increasing, making it more imperative than ever to create effective, accurate, portable, intelligent, multifunctional diagnostic equipment. Bacteria possess a remarkable perception of their surroundings and have the capacity to adapt by altering the expression of specific genes. Bacteria interact with target substances and produce detectable signals in response to their presence or concentration. This unique property has been harnessed in the development of bacterial biosensors. Due to groundbreaking advancements in synthetic biology, genetic engineering now enables the creation of bacteria tailored with exceptional detecting traits. In addition to meeting a wide range of application needs, this allows quick and precise detection in intricate settings and offers a strong technological basis for early disease diagnosis and treatment monitoring. This article reviews the applications and recent advancements of bacterial biosensors in the medical field and discusses the challenges and obstacles that remain in their research and application.

Keywords: bacteria; biosensors; disease diagnosis; personalized medicine; real-time monitoring.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Principles and mechanisms of bacterial biosensors. The input module receives environmental signals (e.g., temperature gradients, acidic environments) and biological signals (e.g., pathogens, metabolites), triggering signal transduction through mechanisms such as conformational changes, conditional stabilization, or enzymatic reactions. The signal transduction module, which comprises two-component systems, quorum sensing, and chemotaxis, processes these signals, while the output module converts them into optical (e.g., fluorescence) or electrochemical responses. Synthetic biology techniques (e.g., logic gates, memory switches, feedback regulation, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing) further optimize the sensor’s detection sensitivity and dynamic response range. By Figdraw.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Bacterial biosensor based on a quorum sensing system for inflammatory bowel disease detection. Utilizing the quorum sensing system of Vibrio harveyi BB170, this biosensor detects the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-associated autoinducer AI-2, triggering the expression of bioluminescent genes to generate quantitatively detectable fluorescent signals. By Figdraw.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Bacterial biosensors for non-invasive detection of liver cancer. Genetically engineered bacteria are designed to colonize the liver cancer microenvironment and induce the expression of fluorescent proteins upon sensing specific biomarkers (e.g., LuGal). The fluorescent molecules are excreted via the bloodstream into urine, thereby enabling non-invasive detection of liver cancer biomarkers. By Figdraw.
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