BioCentury
ARTICLE | Tools & Techniques

Showdown: bacteria vs. virus

Could bacteriophages solve the antibiotic resistance problem?

February 23, 2017 9:38 PM UTC

Drug developers are starting to revisit bacteriophages as a solution for two of the biggest questions in translational research: how to treat resistant bacterial infections, and how to manipulate the human microbiome. A spate of small companies is leading the way, using new technology to resuscitate a dormant modality.

Bacteriophages were largely abandoned by the industry decades ago in favor of broadly acting small molecule antibiotics. The agents, also known as "phages," are viruses that infect and destroy bacteria, acting as natural predators for the microbes. ...