Researchers published a Nature Biotechnology study describing engineered nonpathogenic Escherichia coli programmed with a blood‑inducible circuit to detect gastrointestinal bleeding and secrete a barnacle adhesive (CP43K) plus the therapeutic factor TFF3. The microbes adhere to inflamed mucosa for days and, in two mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease (dextran sulfate sodium colitis and IL‑10 knockout mice), improved weight recovery, reduced colonic shortening and decreased intestinal bleeding. The approach integrates autonomous sensing, adhesive biomaterials and therapeutic secretion to sustain local drug exposure without repeated dosing. Adhesion depended on bleeding cues, enabling tissue‑targeted retention for up to 10 days after rectal administration and seven days after oral dosing in mice. The authors made sequence data available in public repositories and provided mechanistic and efficacy data in the paper and supplementary information. For synthetic‑biology and microbiome therapeutics, the work demonstrates an engineered living material that couples pathology sensing to localized, prolonged activity—raising opportunities for hemorrhage‑triggered treatments and regulatory questions around engineered live therapeutics.