Using bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections, especially those resistant to antibiotics.
Phages are specific and self-replicating where bacteria are present, with fewer effects on microbiota. Challenges: phage resistance, regulation and the need for matching. First used by Félix d'Hérelle in the 1910s.
Phage cocktails reduce resistance. Phages can be engineered. Regulatory frameworks are evolving.
Example: it has been used in Eastern Europe for decades.
Using bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections, especially those resistant to antibiotics.
Phage Therapy is one of the 54 topics in Microbiology. It is rated Advanced, so it suits learners who want specialist depth. Related topics in this area include Antibiotics, Bacterial Chemotaxis, Antibiotic Resistance Mechanisms.
A patient with a resistant Acinetobacter infection was cured in 2016 using phages.
Work through the Beginner topics in Microbiology first, such as Microorganisms, Bacteria, Archaea, then return to Phage Therapy. Advanced topics assume the Intermediate vocabulary.
The closest topics to Phage Therapy are Antibiotics, Bacterial Chemotaxis, Antibiotic Resistance Mechanisms, Biofilms. Comparing them side by side is a good way to see how the ideas connect.
Read the summary and the in-depth section, then use the quick check on the interactive lesson for Phage Therapy. To practise the whole of Microbiology, use the Microbiology quiz.
Phage Therapy: Using bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections, especially those resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotics: Drugs that kill or inhibit bacteria, such as penicillin, which blocks cell wall synthesis. Read both side by side and note what each one explains.
First, read the summary and write the definition in your own words. Second, read the in-depth section and note any example. Third, compare it with Antibiotics and explain the difference aloud. Finally, take the Microbiology quiz and come back to this page for any question you miss.
Drugs that kill or inhibit bacteria, such as penicillin, which blocks cell wall synthesis.
🦠 MicrobiologyCells bias a random walk toward attractants by controlling flagellar rotation through CheY.
🦠 MicrobiologyBacteria resist drugs by enzymes like beta-lactamase, efflux pumps, altered targets and reduced uptake.
🦠 MicrobiologyStructured communities of microbes embedded in a self-made matrix, resistant to antibiotics and immune attack.
🦠 Microbiology