The oral ingestion of live bacterial cell colonies has been proposed and is currently in therapy for the modulation of intestinal microflora, prevention of diarrheal diseases, treatment of "H. Pylori" infections, atopic inflammations, lactose intolerance and immune modulation, amongst others. The proposed mechanism of action is not fully understood but is believed to have two main effects. The first is the nutritional effect, in which the bacteria compete with toxin producing bacteria. The second is the sanitary effect, which stimulates resistance to colonization and stimulates immune response. The oral delivery of bacterial cultures is often a problem because they are targeted by the immune system and often destroyed when taken orally. Artificial cells help address these issues by providing mimicry into the body and selective or long term release thus increasing the viability of bacteria reaching the gastrointestinal system. In addition, live bacterial cell encapsulation can be engineered to allow diffusion of small molecules including peptides into the body for therapeutic purposes. Membranes that have proven successful for bacterial delivery include cellulose acetate and variants of alginate. Additional uses that have arosen from encapsulation of bacterial cells include protection against challenge from "M. Tuberculosis" and upregulation of Ig secreting cells from the immune system. The technology is limited by the risk of systemic infections, adverse metabolic activities and the risk of gene transfer. However, the greater challenge remains the delivery of sufficient viable bacteria to the site of interest.