Clostridium difficile cell with flagella – Inset shows virus infecting cell
Our researchers discover use for phages in fighting Clostridium difficile
A specialist team of scientists from our Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation has isolated viruses that eat bacteria – called phages – to specifically target the highly infectious hospital superbug Clostridium difficile (C. diff).
Since the discovery of the first antibiotic – penicillin – antibiotics have been heralded as the ‘silver bullets’ of medicine. They have saved countless lives and impacted on the well-being of humanity.
But less than a century following their discovery, the future impact of antibiotics is dwindling at a pace that no one anticipated, with more and more bacteria out-smarting and ‘out-evolving’ these miracle drugs. This has re-energised the search for new treatments, such as phages.
The key advantage of using phages over antibiotics lies in their specificity. A phage will infect and kill only a specific strain/species of bacteria. This is particularly important when treating conditions like C. diff infections.
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Superbugs
- Blue Light, Food Oils Combo Kills Superbugs, says Studyon February 24, 2021 at 11:56 am
Investigators wanted to see how their method would fare against Acinetobacter baumannii and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and results were promising.
- Doctors treat female UTIs with wrong antibiotics nearly half the time, study findson February 24, 2021 at 7:00 am
Urinary track infections are painful, frustrating and all too frequent in women of all ages (and some men, too). Doctors are prescribing the wrong antibiotics to treat them, as well as giving out too ...
- ‘Resuscitating’ old antibiotics to combat the growing threat of superbugson February 23, 2021 at 5:13 pm
Holding off the rise of superbugs could be achieved by 'resuscitating' old antibiotics, with The University of Queensland researchers leading an international project to help combat the growing threat ...
- X-factor to help antibiotics regain their sparkon February 21, 2021 at 9:00 pm
CARB-X has funded researchers from The University of Queensland to help combat the growing threat of drug-resistant bacteria. Compounds from a group known as the Octapeptins could be the spark the ...
- Resistant 'Superbugs' Create Need for Novel Antibioticson February 21, 2021 at 4:00 pm
Which Bacteria Are Called ‘Superbugs'? In the 1990s, MRSA, VRSA, and VRE were the major superbugs which required clinical attention and pharmacological ingenuity. Sta phylococcus aureus and ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Superbugs
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Phages
- Phage Therapy Successful in Mice, but Resistance Loomson February 24, 2021 at 5:00 am
NIH scientists used two different phages to successfully treat research mice with drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae.
- Pooping Out Miracles: Successful Mechanism Behind Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Revealedon February 22, 2021 at 2:43 pm
Osaka City University demonstrates success of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) by revealing the coordinated effort of bacteriophages (phages) and their host bacteria in restoring human ...
- Lifestyle of sponge symbiont phages by host prediction and correlative microscopyon February 18, 2021 at 12:23 am
Here we investigate the tripartite interaction between phages, bacterial symbionts, and the sponge host. We combined imaging and bioinformatics to tackle important questions on who the phage hosts are ...
- Team finds giant bacteria-chomping viruses in odd placeson February 16, 2021 at 4:00 pm
The phages are of a size and complexity considered typical of life, carry numerous genes normally found in bacteria, and use these genes against their bacterial hosts. “We are exploring Earth ...
- Strengthening of Pherecydes Pharma’s Patent Portfolio with Two New Patents Granted in the United Stateson February 16, 2021 at 2:00 pm
Pherecydes Pharma (Paris:ALPHE) (FR0011651694 - ALPHE), a biotechnology company specializing in precision phage therapy for the treat ...
