Are viruses the key to fighting infections?
We are running out of ammunition against certain infections, as bacteria increasingly evade the antibiotics we\u2019ve relied on for nearly a century. Could bacteriophages \u2013 viruses that hunt and kill bacteria \u2013 be part of the solution?
In 2019, CrowdScience travelled to Georgia where bacteriophages, also known as phages, have been used for nearly a hundred years to treat illnesses ranging from a sore throat to cholera. Here we met the scientists who have kept rare phages safe for decades, and are constantly on the look-out for new ones. Phages are fussy eaters: a specific phage will happily chew on one bacteria but ignore another, so hunting down the right one for each infection is vital.
Since then, we\u2019ve lived through a pandemic, the medical landscape has been transformed, and interest in bacteriophages as a treatment option is growing throughout the world. We turn to microbiologist Professor Martha Clokie for updates, including the answer to listener Garry\u2019s question: could phages help in the fight against Covid-19?
Contributors:\nProf Martha Clokie, University of Leicester\nDr Naomi Hoyle, Eliava Phage Therapy Center\nProf Nina Chanishvili, Eliava Institute\nDr Eka Jaiani, Eliava Institute
Presented by Marnie Chesterton\nProduced by Cathy Edwards and Louisa Field for the BBC World Service
[Photo:Bacteriophages infecting bacteria, illustration. Credit: Getty Images]