Engineered pharmabiotics with improved therapeutic potential.

Although described for over a century, scientists and clinicians alike are only now beginning to realize the significant medical applications of probiotic cultures. Given the increasing commercial and clinical relevance of probiotics, improving their stress tolerance profile and ability to overcome the physiochemical defences of the host is an important biological goal. Patho-biotechnology describes the application of pathogen derived (ex vivo and in vivo) stress survival strategies for the design of more technologically robust and effective probiotic cultures with improved biotechnological and clinical applications as well as the development of novel vaccine and drug delivery platforms.