Nydia Ywalmoriel
08-13-2007, 05:15 PM
A little background as leadin for this story:
Bacteria, like all other cellular life, can get infected with viruses - and those viruses, called bacteriophage ("bacteria eater") have been used in biotechnology since the early 1950s, when Hershey and Chase did their famous experiment proving once and for all that DNA, not protein, was the molecule of heredity. They've been used for decades for genetic mapping experiments, gene transduction in order to make valuable biological products (such as insulin and clotting factor IX for hemophiliacs), and many other applications and are a mainstay of molecular genetics experiments.
So why did we never try to use bacteriophages to fight bacterial infections?
As it turns out, someone did - bacteriophages *were* used by Stalinist Russia during WW2 to combat battlefield infections, but this strategy, while effective, faded into obscurity with the coming into prevelance of penicillin, which had the advantage of being broad-spectrum, whereas bacteriophages are specific to the organism someone is infected with.
Now that we have antibiotic resistant *everything*, finally, someone has decided to give bacteriophages a second look. Brief story here off the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6943779.stm
It's difficult, if not impossible, to patent an 'organism' or a technology that has been in use for decades, so the major drug companies are hesitant to lay their money down, but considering how well known these viruses are and that they're used commercially already for other purposes, it's kind of mind-boggling, actually, that no-one in Europe or China or the US seriously considered working on isolating or utilizing phage for specific diseases.
I read this article and immediately had one of those head-smacking moments - and I'm sure a lot of biologists and medical professionals did the same. It'll be interesting to see what comes out of this...
Regards,
Nydia
Bacteria, like all other cellular life, can get infected with viruses - and those viruses, called bacteriophage ("bacteria eater") have been used in biotechnology since the early 1950s, when Hershey and Chase did their famous experiment proving once and for all that DNA, not protein, was the molecule of heredity. They've been used for decades for genetic mapping experiments, gene transduction in order to make valuable biological products (such as insulin and clotting factor IX for hemophiliacs), and many other applications and are a mainstay of molecular genetics experiments.
So why did we never try to use bacteriophages to fight bacterial infections?
As it turns out, someone did - bacteriophages *were* used by Stalinist Russia during WW2 to combat battlefield infections, but this strategy, while effective, faded into obscurity with the coming into prevelance of penicillin, which had the advantage of being broad-spectrum, whereas bacteriophages are specific to the organism someone is infected with.
Now that we have antibiotic resistant *everything*, finally, someone has decided to give bacteriophages a second look. Brief story here off the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6943779.stm
It's difficult, if not impossible, to patent an 'organism' or a technology that has been in use for decades, so the major drug companies are hesitant to lay their money down, but considering how well known these viruses are and that they're used commercially already for other purposes, it's kind of mind-boggling, actually, that no-one in Europe or China or the US seriously considered working on isolating or utilizing phage for specific diseases.
I read this article and immediately had one of those head-smacking moments - and I'm sure a lot of biologists and medical professionals did the same. It'll be interesting to see what comes out of this...
Regards,
Nydia