Steering Phages to Combat Bacterial Pathogens

James Gurney , Sam P Brown , Oliver Kaltz , Michael E Hochberg (1)

1 UMR ISEM - Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier

A critical issue facing humanity is the rise in antimicrobial resistance. Although increasing research effort is spent on developing novel drugs, few alternatives reach the clinic. Phage therapy is an old idea, long practiced in eastern European countries and gaining serious attention in the western world. In this Opinion piece, we outline a strategy that harnesses the ability of bacteriophages (phages) to impose strong selection on their bacterial hosts: instead of avoiding resistance, this therapy relies on the target organism resisting the phage. By using phages to both kill bacterial cells and 'steer' survivors towards resistant but more compromised phenotypes, we can potentially improve treatment outcomes.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

James Gurney, Sam P Brown, Oliver Kaltz, Michael E Hochberg. Steering Phages to Combat Bacterial Pathogens. Trends in Microbiology, 2019, 28, pp.85 - 94. ⟨10.1016/j.tim.2019.10.007⟩. ⟨hal-03018333⟩