We are all familiar with recent articles lamenting the speed with which bacterial species responsible for infections have developed resistance to antibiotics. We asked, "What happens when we run out of ways to tweak existing antibiotics?" The prospect of living in a world where bacterial infections triumph over pharmaceutical therapies is a terrifying one.
However, the day that bacterial infections will thrive unhindered by therapy is likely much farther away than those fearing catastrophe propose. While innovations in synthetic antibiotic development have slowed, there are alternatives. Viruses are highly effective at debilitating animals and human beings, why not use viruses to attack and kill bacteria? This article explores a how bacteriophages, or viruses that selectively attack bacteria, can render E. coli defenseless against antibiotic therapy.
Want to swallow this guy?
There is also research using bacteriophages that kill bacteria directly, by lysing bacterial cells they infect, rather than combining forces with antibiotics. (see link) Polish studies demonstrate that this approach has been effective in treating cerebrospinal meningitis in a newborn, dermal infections from E. coli, Staphylococcus, and other bacteria, abscesses under the liver and diaphragm, and various chronic bacterial diseases.
Even more interesting, are attempts to use bacteria to attack and kill. . . other bacteria. This article summarizes attempts to engineer E. coli to produce agents that will selectively kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterial species that causes urinary tract infections, pneumonia, skin infections in burn victims and other common infections.
Are we moving from synthetic chemical antibiotics to using living organisms to pathogens?
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