ArticleNature reviews bioengineering2026
Bacteria as living biosensors for DNA.
Article in Nature reviews bioengineering, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Synthetic biology and genome engineering in support of human, agricultural, and environmental security.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Harnessing desiccation-tolerant cyanobacteria as biosensors for LexA-mediated responses in deep space.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Living bacteria can serve as biosensors for the detection of DNA in vitro and in vivo, capitalizing on their inherent ability to take up and process foreign DNA. Such bactosensors can be engineered to analyze environmental DNA, down to the single base level, from unprocessed samples, and provide a detectable output, such as fluorescence, antibiotic resistance or therapeutic release. In this Review, we first outline design strategies for bactosensors, including genetic toolkits, such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated (Cas) systems, and applications in biomedicine, agriculture, food and water safety. Moreover, we examine chassis species, DNA uptake mechanisms, signal transduction and output strategies for bacterial biosensors intended for DNA analysis. We then consider performance metrics, including limit of detection, specificity and multiplexing, and provide a comparison between living and in vitro DNA biosensors for various applications, highlighting differences in sample processing, equipment, DNA integrity, theranostics and biocontainment.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.