Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Cells, Microbes & Viruses => Topic started by: thedoc on 23/01/2016 04:50:03

Title: Could we treat antibiotic resistance with a virus?
Post by: thedoc on 23/01/2016 04:50:03

Michael O asked the Naked Scientists:
   I heard that the Russians treat bacterial infections with viruses (phage) and have been doing so for many years. Are we exploring this avenue of treatment??
Fantastic programs, thanks for all the info.

Michael
What do you think?

Title: Re: Could we treat antibiotic resistance with a virus?
Post by: evan_au on 23/01/2016 10:39:07

There are good & bad aspects to phage therapy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phage_therapy):

• The bacteriophages are very specific to particular bacteria, so they won't affect the "good" bacteria in the microbiome.
  
• The bacteriophages are very specific to particular bacteria, so you need a very precise diagnosis of what ails you before effective treatment can begin. Antiobiotics are a "shotgun" approach that attacks many potential pathogens at once.

Title: Re: Could we treat antibiotic resistance with a virus?
Post by: chris on 23/01/2016 12:41:36

We've looked at "phage therapy" - as the application of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections is known - a number of times over the past decade. Here are some references that might help to explain what is going on:

Nick Mann on anti-staphylococcal (MRSA) phages: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/interviews/interview/553/

Martha Clokie on C. diff targeted phages: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/interviews/interview/1000463/

Heather Hendickson on phage therapy: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/interviews/interview/1000867/