Who knew bacteria can also be infected?
What is a bacteriophage?
A bacteriophage is a specific type of virus that infects bacteria. Phages are found in every environment and are the most abundant biological agent in the world. With the number of bacteriophages in the world, trillions of bacteria are infected each second.
Although bacteriophages vary widely in shape and size, they all share a fundamental structure: nucleic acid enclosed by a shell of protein. Since phages are so diverse in structure, each phage can only infect one specific type of bacteria.
Like other viruses, bacteriophages cannot replicate on their own. Instead, they rely on their hosts to do the replication for them. When they invade bacteria, phages will hijack the organism to produce more viruses. After many copies are made, the viruses will burst out from the host bacteria and infect other bacteria.
Possible use in medicine
Bacteriophages might be viruses, but they are harmless to humans. In fact, scientists believe phages could possibly be a new treatment for bacterial infections. As the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and bacteriophages are our friends.
As of recently, some well-known bacterial treatments are losing their efficiency. Bacteria are evolving to resist certain drug treatments, and newer drugs are not being found in time to combat the evolved bacteria. This is where bacteriophages come in.
Using phages as treatments, known as phage therapy, can become a new alternative to antibiotics. As phages often only target one type of bacteria, they can avoid destroying the natural, healthier bacteria found in your body, ensuring that only harmful bacteria are destroyed. Phages are also removed very quickly from our bodies without any side effects and will stop multiplying once all their targets are gone.
Yet, like all types of treatment, scientists need to improve possible phage therapy options before it can be used in everyday life. Since bacteriophages are removed from the body very quickly, they might not be able to treat a long-lasting infection. Further, these viruses evolved to live in certain conditions, meaning it can be difficult to store them or use them in the body if the conditions are too extreme for phages. Luckily, modern biotechnology can help. Modifying bacteriophages’ DNAs can help them overcome these limitations and create more deadly phages to defeat bacterial infections.
Thanks for reading!
Written by Kaylee Barrera
Sources:
Haq, Irshad Ul, et al. “Bacteriophages and Their Implications on Future Biotechnology: A Review.” Virology Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, Jan. 2012, p. 9. BioMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-9-9.
“Phage 101 - Bacteriophage Therapy - UC San Diego Health.” UC Health - UC San Diego, https://health.ucsd.edu/news/topics/phage-therapy/pages/phage-101.aspx. Accessed 10 Nov. 2021.
Principi, Nicola, et al. “Advantages and Limitations of Bacteriophages for the Treatment of Bacterial Infections.” Frontiers in Pharmacology, vol. 10, 2019, p. 513. Frontiers, https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2019.00513.
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