Phage therapy uses bacteriophages in order to treat specific bacterial infections without harming the human microbiota. Lytic bacteriophages attach to specific bacteria, penetrate and inject their genetic material, force the bacteria to manufacture products for a new generation of viruses and finally lyse the infected bacteria to release the newly made phages.
Research for this type of treatment originated in the Soviet Union at a time when they had no access to the antibiotics being produced in the west, but it is now been revised in order to tackle the growing concern of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
The issue that lies with broad-spectrum antibiotics is that they destroy an extensive scope of bacterial strains. Bacteriophages are able to attack a single strain or species of bacteria without destroying others that may prove useful for the balance of the human micriobiota. Unlike antibiotics, when bacteria develop mechanisms to prevent the penetration of these viruses, researchers are always able to change the type of bacteriophages being applied to a patient.
Researchers are also looking into creating their own synthetic bacteriophages that would only kill antibiotic resistant bacteria.
http://www.nature.com/news/phage-therapy-gets-revitalized-1.15348 main article
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/41097/title/Bacteriophage-Boom-/
http://phages.org/ helpful
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