What is it?
The Bacteriophage. Video produced by Kurzgesagt – In a nutshell and created with scientific advice and editing by James Gurney.
Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that infect bacteria [1]. Phages are smaller and more abundant than bacteria and can be found all around the globe.
Similar to viruses, phages are species-specific and can typically only infect a single bacterial species or strain. Phage therapy involves using specific phages to target and destroy the specific disease-causing bacterial population.
Challenges
- Phage therapy is largely still in the research and development phase and is not widely available for use in Canada.
- As phages are virus-specific, the exact causative agent of the infection or disease must be known for phage therapy to be used.
- Phages are only effective against bacteria and not other microbes that may lead to AMR, such as viruses or parasites.
How Does it Prevent AMR?
As we move into a post-antibiotic era, phage therapy offers an alternative solution to selectively targeting and killing bacteria. As a note, phages cannot infect human cells. They can only infect bacteria, which makes them a unique tool in fighting the development of antibiotic resistance.
Current research at the University of Calgary by Dr. Niu is focused on bacteriophage-derived biocontrol to intervene in antimicrobial resistance transfer [2].
Further Reading
Research Gaps
Product/Service Gaps
References
[1] M. R. J. Clokie, A. D. Millard, A. V. Letarov, and S. Heaphy, ‘Phages in nature’, Bacteriophage, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 31–45, Jan. 2011, doi: 10.4161/bact.1.1.14942.
[2] ‘Dongyan Niu’, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Jan. 06, 2020. https://vet.ucalgary.ca/contact-us/dongyan-niu (accessed Aug. 22, 2022).
