As antibiotic resistance grows, scientists are turning to bacteriophages, viruses that target harmful bacteria without wiping out beneficial microbes.
Articles on Phages
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Scientists found an unexpected viral hitchhiker lurking inside a common gut bacterium – and it was twice as prevalent in people with colorectal cancer.
The viruses that kill bacteria may be our best bet against antibiotic resistance – if we can understand how they win.
Viruses known as ‘phages’ might become an essential tool, as antibiotic-resistant bacteria threaten conventional remedies.
Phages, or viruses that infect bacteria, can lie dormant within chromosomes until they’re triggered to replicate and burst out of their hosts.
Viruses have gotten a bad rap for the many illnesses and pandemics they’ve caused. But viruses are also genetic innovators – and possibly the pioneers of using DNA as the genetic blueprint of life.
Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria. But could they be key in solving the antibiotic resistance epidemic?
While some viruses make us sick, others can fight against bacteria, or protect us from more harmful viruses.
The virus that could cure antibiotic resistant infections.
Top contributors
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Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Senior Lecturer, Medical Microbiology, University of Westminster
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Research Assistant, University of Canberra
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Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology, University of York
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Research Scientist, Bioscience, Quadram Institute
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Associate Professor, Microbiology, University of Southampton
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Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Microbiology, University of Otago
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Lecturer in Bacteriophage Bioinformatics, University of Leicester