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"Before penicillin became the medical world's darling, crusading doctors crisscrossed the globe armed with bacteriophages, bacteria killing viruses that, when administered to diseased patients via injection or potion, could be powerful healers" U.S. News and World Report; Return of a killer -Phages may once again fight tough bacterial infections; November 2, 1998
Simply stated, phages are viruses that infect bacteria. Like all viruses, phages are metabolically inert in their extracellular form and reproduce by insinuating themselves into the metabolism of the host bacteria. The viral DNA is then injected into the host cell, where it directs the production of progeny phages. These phages burst from the host cell, killing it and then infecting more bacteria. There are innumerable types of phages, each capable of eradicating its host bacterial species. They are abundant in the biosphere and it is important to note that phages only attack bacteria and have not been found to have adverse effects on humans or other animals. Bacteriophages were discovered over 80 years ago, independently by both French and English scientists. It was quickly realized that phages had the potential to kill the bacteria that caused many infectious diseases in humans, as well as in plants and animals. An institute for the study and production of phages was founded in the mid 1930s in the Soviet Republic of Georgia and remains active today. In the West, research into and application of phage therapy has been limited, with nominal commercialization. Its use all but ceased in the 1940s with the emergence of penicillin and other chemical antibiotics. However, over the last ten years there has been renewed interest in phage therapy, due largely to the growing resistance of many strains of bacteria to existing antibiotics. |