Exterior design: strategies for redecorating the bacterial surface with small molecules

Recombinant techniques for expressing heterologous proteins and sugars on the surface of bacteria have been known since the 1980s, and have proven useful in a variety of settings from biocatalysis to vaccinology. The past decade has also seen the emergence of novel methods that allow modification of bacterial surfaces with small non-biological compounds. Such technologies enable researchers to harness the unique properties of synthetic materials...