Engineered bacteria and engineered probiotics for intestinal disease therapy: a bibliometric and knowledge mapping analysis

Abstract

Objective Engineered bacteria and engineered probiotics are emerging living therapeutic platforms for intestinal diseases, supported by advances in synthetic biology, genetic engineering, and microbiome technologies. This study aimed to characterize the research landscape, knowledge structure, research hotspots, and emerging trends of engineered bacteria and engineered probiotics for intestinal disease therapy using bibliometric and knowledge mapping approaches. Methods Publications were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus databases. After publication type restriction, thematic relevance screening, database merging, and duplicate removal, 499 publications published between 2015 and 2026 were included. The search was completed on July 3, 2026; therefore, records from 2026 represent a partial-year dataset. R, Python, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace were used to analyze annual publication trends, country/region, institution, author and journal distributions, keyword co-occurrence and bursts, co-cited references, and research frontiers. Results Publication output increased markedly over the study period, reaching 109 publications in 2025; 64 records were retrieved for 2026 by the cutoff date. China had the highest publication output, whereas the United States had the highest total link strength, and Asia contributed 361 publications. Keyword analysis identified inflammatory bowel disease, gut microbiota, probiotics, engineered bacteria, engineered probiotics, synthetic biology, intestinal barrier, drug delivery, colorectal cancer, and immunotherapy as major research hotspots. Co-cited reference and timeline analyses indicated a shift in research attention from conventional probiotic-mediated anti-inflammatory effects, mucosal immune regulation, and intestinal barrier protection toward bacterial chassis selection, enhanced colonization, self-regulated genetic circuits, probiotic-based biomaterials, sustained-release delivery systems, and engineered bacteria-mediated antitumor therapy. Conclusion The bibliometric evidence indicates that recent research attention is increasingly focused on programmable living therapeutic strategies. Environmental sensing, local therapeutic delivery, sustained activity, and multifunctional design features are capabilities reported in the underlying literature and represented among the emerging themes identified in this analysis, rather than therapeutic performance directly established by the bibliometric data. Future research should further address biosafety, genetic stability, spatiotemporal controllability, intestinal colonization, delivery efficiency, and clinical translation.