Scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have engineered strains of a beneficial gut bacterium to function as programmable therapeutics for hepatic encephalopathy (HE), a neurological complication of liver disease.
HE is caused by the buildup of toxins such as ammonia in the blood, leading to anxiety, confusion, memory loss, and coma. Current treatments, lactulose and rifaximin, are only partially effective and do not address all metabolic disruptions.
The researchers published their findings in Cell on 24 April 2026.