Acrylamide (AA) is a common carcinogen that affects the development and function of the central nervous system (CNS). At present, the toxic injuries of common AA are mainly divided into acute and chronic attacks, and the damage caused to the CNS is different. To investigate whether different doses of AA have different effects on brain cells, we performed single-nucleus RNA sequencing of the brain. The findings indicated that short-term high-dose (acute) AA directly disrupted protein synthesis and protein structure stability on the endoplasmic reticulum. Additionally, acute AA was observed to downregulate genes that inhibit apoptosis and autophagy, promote apoptosis, accelerate cell aging, and affect cell function in glial cells (Glia). Long-term low-dose (chronic) AA exposure elevated Ca²⁺ concentration, increased protein autophosphorylation, and induced mitochondrial dysfunction, resulting in impaired axonal transport and disrupted metabolism of Kenyon cells (KCs). These findings highlight the cell type-specific effects of AA, where acute exposure disrupts Glia protein homeostasis, and chronic exposure impairs calcium signaling and axonal transport in KCs. Such results deepen our understanding of AA-induced neurotoxicity and lay the groundwork for developing targeted therapeutic strategies to mitigate its effects on the CNS.

Synthetic biology made the design of microbes as versatile therapeutic platforms possible, thereby transforming bacteria and synthetic microbial communities into programmable systems for health applications. This review summarizes recent progress in engineered bacterial therapeutics, emphasizing their roles in metabolic compensation, immune modulation, targeted delivery, and diagnostic sensing. Engineered strains have advanced from early proof-of-concept designs to sophisticated circuits that integrate environmental cues, respond to external stimuli, and achieve spatiotemporal control of therapeutic outputs. Similarly, synthetic microbial communities strategies provide ecological stability, functional redundancy, and customizable community interactions, offering advantages over single-strain interventions. Together, these approaches demonstrate a shift from conventional probiotics toward rationally designed microbial therapeutics that restore physiological balance and actively intervene in disease processes. Ongoing efforts address challenges, including colonization efficiency, biosafety, and regulatory adaptation, whereas emerging frameworks integrate multimodal sensing, intelligent feedback control, and clinical translation. This review emphasizes their potential to reshape future strategies for disease prevention, intervention, and personalized medicine by situating microbial therapeutics within the broader landscape of health engineering.

Due to the complex natures of dietary food components, it is difficult to elucidate how the compounds affect host health. Dietary food often selectively presents its mechanism of action on different cell types, and participates in the modulation of targeted cells and their microenvironments within organs. However, the limitations of traditional in vitro assays or in vivo animal experiments cannot comprehensively examine cellular heterogeneity and the tissue-biased influences. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has emerged as an indispensable methodology to decompose tissues into different cell types for the demonstration of transcriptional profiles of individual cells. ScRNA-seq applications has been summarized on three typical organs (brain, liver, kidney), and two representative immune-and tumor related health problems. The everincreasing role of scRNA-seq in dietary food research with further improvement can provide sub-cellular information and the coupling between other cellular modalities. In this review, we propose utilizing scRNAseq to more effectively capture the subtle and complex effects of food chemicals, and how they may lead to health problems at single-cell resolution. This novel technique will be valuable to elucidate the underlying mechanism of both the health benefits of food nutrients and the detrimental consequences food toxicants at the cellular level.