In 2020, the United Nations officially recognized the medical use of cannabis, it allows for much needed research on the pharmacokinetics and pharmocology of medical cannabis. However, the booming usage of cannabis leading by legalization has also created an extraordinarily high risk of drug leakage.

The predominant psychotropic component is Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC). Some traits predispose individuals to the use of psychoactive substances in general. The therapeutic actions of Δ9-THC include an ability to act as analgesics, anti-emetics, anti-inflammatory agents, anti-seizure compounds and as protective agents in neurodegeneration.

Given the rapid proliferation of cannabis after legalization and the inadequate response of society to its popularity, there is an urgent need for a way to ensure that people stay away from cannabis without actively ingesting it and for those who need a component of cannabis other than THC, to reduce the patient's dependence on the drug.



We developed a new type of intestinal colonization engineered bacteria with Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 as the chassis.

The THC-sensing pathway induced by human THC receptors CB1 and CB2 requires the intervention of G protein coupling, and the signal molecule cAMP will crosstalk in E.coli. So we constructed a THC-sensing pathway induced by prokaryotic PmrA/PmrB system. THC acts as a trigger signal for C-phycocyanin expression, resulting in feces color change, thus, privately alerting “vaccinators” of THC intake.

The main metabolic pathway of Δ9-THC is through the hydroxylation of CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 to 11-OH-Δ9-THC, which is still psychoactive.
Then, 11-OH-Δ9-THC is metabolized by uridine 5 '- diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) to produce cannabinoid glucuronic acid, which is conducive to excretion and has no addiction.
Therefore, we introduce the codon-optimised CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and UGT enzyme genes downstream of the alarm protein into E.coli Nissle1917 so that Δ9-THC will be sensed and transformed into cannabinoid glucuronic acid in human intestine.