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In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by all United Nations Member States. The SDGs serve as a global framework for addressing environmental, social, and economic challenges, aiming to call on all countries to promote prosperity while protecting the environment[1].
Among them, SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being explicitly states that by 2030, premature mortality from non-communicable diseases should be reduced through prevention and treatment, while also promoting mental health and well-being[2].
Diabetes and obesity are two of the major global public health challenges today. In particular, in MLICs （Middle- and Low-Income Countries, patients often face long-term health threats due to high treatment costs and limited access to medicines.
Figure 1. Estimated total number of adults (20-79 years) with diabetes in 2024[3]
Currently, GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs used in clinical practice generally suffer from short half-lives, high costs, and inconvenient administration methods (mostly injections). These issues not only affect patient compliance but also increase the burden on public health systems.
Our project aims to address these problems by engineering the probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN), combined with a green tea metabolite sensing system, to enable long-term synthesis and release of GLP-1 directly in the gut. At the same time, we optimize protease cleavage sites to extend its circulation time in vivo, thereby improving stability while maintaining bioactivity, with the goal of developing a truly long-acting oral GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy.
In addition, our engineered bacteria are equipped with a biosafety suicide switch and delivered through a hydrogel carrier to ensure safety and targeting. Besides, we emphasized cross-disciplinary collaboration, integrating insights from biomedicine and industrialization, with the aim of making a comprehensive contribution to health, environmental sustainability, and industrial sustainability.
Figure2. Our project mapping with SDGs
Our team hopes to provide a longer-lasting, low-cost, and patient-friendly treatment option for diabetes and obesity. By using controllable long-acting engineered bacterial therapeutics as an alternative to expensive formulations, our project aims to benefit developing countries and low-income populations. Furthermore, by replacing injectable formulations with oral medication, we place greater emphasis on patient acceptance and accessibility.
Our team integrates the EcN chassis, a green tea metabolite sensing system, GLP-1 stability enhancement, and hydrogel delivery to achieve innovation. Through this work, we contribute to the development of engineered bacterial therapeutics and novel delivery systems, promoting innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Most GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs on the market are chemically synthesized. Our project replaces chemical synthesis with biosynthesis, reducing energy consumption and chemical waste emissions, minimizing the use of organic solvents in synthetic routes, and enhancing the environmental friendliness of drug production.
Our team shared the ideas of this project with academia, industry, clinical doctors, and other iGEM teams, gathering insights from different perspectives and building effective communication mechanisms and partnerships.
We engaged in in-depth communication and interaction with various stakeholders to understand their concerns and improve our project design in the process.
(1) Clinical Doctors: Through discussions with frontline doctors, we learned that some patients are strongly resistant to injections. At the same time, doctors expressed significant concern about the long-term safety of orally administered engineered bacteria, as well as the acceptance of treatment strategies that alter the gut microbiota.
(2) Academic Researchers: Suggestions from researchers mainly focused on the feasibility of the project and potential optimizations of each module. After these discussions, we refined project details and improved the oral delivery carrier for our engineered bacteria.
(3) Biopharmaceutical Companies: In conversations with industry representatives, we found that they were highly concerned with the practical implementation and construction process of the project. They suggested adopting high-throughput approaches to accelerate module building and optimization.
(4) Public: By distributing surveys, we investigated public attitudes toward current treatments for diabetes and obesity, as well as their acceptance of orally administered engineered bacteria. This helped us assess public receptiveness to the solutions provided by our project.
We look forward to the long-term contributions of our project to sustainable development.
(1) Health: Significantly improving treatment adherence and quality of life for patients with diabetes and obesity.
(2) Environment: Reducing energy consumption, waste generation, and environmental pollution through green biosynthetic pathways.
(3) Economy: Lowering production costs and reducing reliance on cold-chain logistics, thereby enhancing drug accessibility.
(4) Technology: Providing new ideas for the development of engineered bacterial therapeutics and promoting the application of synthetic biology in medicine.
Our project is not only an innovative synthetic biology solution but also an exploration toward global health equity, environmental friendliness, and industrial sustainability.
We call on more research teams, industry partners, and policymakers to focus on affordable and sustainable biomedical innovations, jointly advancing the United Nations SDGs, and ensuring that advanced therapies can benefit everyone in need worldwide.
[1] United Nations Regional Information Centre. (n.d.). United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. https://unric.org/en/united-nations-sustainable-development-goals/
[2] United Nations Regional Information Centre. (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being. https://unric.org/en/sdg-3/
[3] International Diabetes Federation. (2025). Global diabetes data & insights. https://diabetesatlas.org/data-by-location/global/