Engineered living materials: emerging frontiers in therapeutic innovation and management of skin disorders

Engineered living material (ELM) is a new paradigm in biomaterials science that merges synthetic biology with materials engineering to create dynamic, responsive systems with living functionalities. This review explores to what extent ELMs can be developed as novel therapeutic agents for dermal complications including chronic wounds, burns, infections, and dermatological disorders. By integrating engineered microorganisms, such as bacteria or fungi, within biocompatible matrices, ELMs offer unprecedented capabilities for real-time sensing, adaptive responses, and localized therapeutic delivery. These materials can be formulated to release bioactive compounds, including antimicrobial, growth, or immunomodulatory peptides, in response to well defined environmental cues that address the underlying complexity of the pathophysiology of skin related conditions. ELMs have self-healing features and can remodel their structure to induce tissue regeneration and repair dynamically. This review summarizes recent progress in ELM design, including genetic circuit engineering, scaffold optimization, and biocompatibility enhancements that collectively enable precise control over their therapeutic functions. The clinical translation challenges including biosafety, scalability, and regulatory issues have been outlined. ELMs bridge the gap between synthetic biology and dermatology, by which ELMs have potential to be used as the next generation therapy platforms, empowered with personalized, sustainable, and efficacious treatments for dermal complications.