Described in several example embodiments herein are engineered programmable pattern recognition compositions and uses thereof. In an embodiment, the engineered protein contains an NTPase of a Signal Transduction ATPases with Numerous-associated Domains (STAND) superfamily (STAND NTPase), comprising a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) recognition activity, wherein the STAND NTPase and the PAMP recognition activity are derived from the same or different prokaryotes.