It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
IMAGE: HEDVIG TAMMAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN GENETICS OF UNIVERSITY OF TARTU IN HER LABORATORYview more
CREDIT: BY ANDRES AINELO
The two-way defence mechanisms of bacteria and phages, viruses of the bacteria, can offer a solution to antibiotic resistance problems. Hedvig Tamman, Associate Professor of Genetics at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, received the Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to study the microbial arms race.
Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in the treatment of infectious diseases caused by bacteria. Bacteria-attacking viruses can offer new solutions, for example, for developing antibiotics and their additives. The prospect of using phages in the fight against pathogenic bacteria has long been recognised, but their very high specificity and unpredictable reproduction have limited their wider use in medicine.
Tamman’s study bridges several gaps in the research on bacteria, phages and their interaction. “As bacteria and phages have co-evolved since the beginning of time, there is a kind of arms race between them – phages develop a mechanism to overcome all the bacterial defence systems,” said Tamman.
On the one hand, the researcher studies how bacteria defend themselves against phages. For example, bacteria have defence mechanisms against phages and other stressors, such as the toxin-antitoxin system in chromosomes and the stringent response – the latter puts the bacterium, when stressed, into a kind of hibernation. This helps it survive the antibiotic attack and supports the development and spread of resistance. On the other hand, Tamman hopes to discover what helps the phages paralyse the bacterial stringent response. “Although the bacterium Pseudomonas putida that I study is not medically important, it is related to human and plant pathogens. Knowing how phages fight this bacterium gives us ideas that could help us fight bacterial diseases in the future,” Tamman said.
The ERC Starting Grant for early-stage researchers is €1.5 million over five years. The project “Deciphering stringent response proteins and toxin-antitoxin systems in the arms race between bacteria and phages” (abbreviation PhaBacArms) starts at the beginning of 2024 and runs until the end of 2028. Hedvig Tamman defended her PhD in genetics at the University of Tartu in 2016. Her doctoral thesis dealt with the functionality of chromosomal toxin-antitoxin systems of the bacterium Pseudomonas putida. From 2016 to 2021, Tamman was a postdoctoral researcher at the Free University of Brussels, where she worked on determining bacterial stress responses and the structure of proteins involved in these responses.
China, Russia show freedom’s role in ‘disruptive’ science
the Monitor's Editorial Board Mon, January 23, 2023
Big and new ideas in scientific research don’t always originate in well-equipped labs or with more money. Sometimes the greatest resource is freedom. To see why, look at the exodus of people – especially creative innovators and entrepreneurs – from Russia and China over the past year.
Russia’s exodus of talent began with Western economic sanctions imposed after the Ukraine invasion, new restrictions on the internet, and later a harsh military draft of young men. Tens of thousands of high-tech workers fled to Israel, Georgia, or Kazakhstan, where they could find opportunities and free expression in safe havens. Those countries welcomed them as potential founts of innovation.
The exodus from China began with a crackdown on its biggest tech companies, especially their founders, as well as a draconian lockdown of cities against COVID-19. Many of the country’s most creative people moved to the United States, Singapore, and Japan to avoid China’s increasing techno-authoritarianism, or a top-down approach to research.
“Now that they have lived free of fear in other countries, they are reluctant to put themselves and their businesses under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party again,” wrote The New York Times. One founder of a crypto banking startup cited the need to have a say in how government makes rules. “There are many other places [than China] where you can do things,” said Aginny Wang, a co-founder of Flashwire who moved from China to Singapore.
These two waves of talent emigration, both of which may set back each country’s science and technology, are timely reminders about the most basic element for breakthroughs in scientific thought: freedom. They come as yet another study suggests global science has been in a slump in producing “disruptive” discoveries, such as lasers, airplanes, and transistors.
The study, conducted at the University of Minnesota and the University of Arizona, looked at 45 million papers and 3.9 million U.S. patents from 1945 to 2010 to see which research pointed to groundbreaking disruptions in fields from physics to social science. This “disruption index” showed a decline in basic discoveries after World War II and then a leveling since the 1990s. Also noted was an increase in the use of words like “improve” and “enhance” over language such as “make” and “produce.”
As in China and Russia today, many researchers may feel less free to pursue novel and radical ideas. In the West, scholars are publishing research more than ever but in increasingly narrower silos of knowledge. Many spend half their time applying for government grants, which are often given out based on demands for immediate, risk-free results.
“Rather than minting revolutionary ways of thinking, science and technology are increasingly polishing the same conceptual pennies,” writes science commentator Anjana Ahuja in The Financial Times.
The study’s authors say scientific workers can find greater freedom in undirected research and more sabbaticals. Long-shot research begins with short-term liberties to think, explore, make mistakes, and share ideas freely. The best research centers are small in number with high trust and no compulsion for conformity. Or just the opposite of what authoritarian leaders prefer. More freedom may be the greatest disruptor in the world of science seeking disruptive ideas.
Friday, July 10, 2020
Viral dark matter exposed: Metagenome database detects phage-derived antibacterial enzyme
Scientists demonstrate that the information about host bacteria-bacteriophage (phage) associations derived from world`s first metagenome analysis is useful for the development of phage therapies against intestinal pathobionts.
OSAKA CITY UNIVERSITY
IMAGE: LET'S GIVE OUR SPECIAL "PHAGE " ATTACK TO THOSE EVIL C. DIFFICILE! (ILLUSTRATION BY HIDEAKI MIYAUCHI) view more
CREDIT: SATOSHI UEMATSU, OSAKA CITY UNIVERSITY
In a pioneer study published in Cell Host & Microbe - Researchers at Osaka City University and The Institute for Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, reported intestinal bacterial and viral metagenome information from the fecal samples of 101 healthy Japanese individuals. This analysis, leveraging host bacteria-phage associations, detected phage-derived antibacterial enzymes that control pathobionts. As proof-of-concept, phage-derived endolysins are shown to regulate C. difficile infection in mice.
Abnormalities in human intestinal microflora, known as dysbiosis, are connected to various diseases. Altered microbial diversity impairs the beneficial effects of host intestinal microflora, which cause some symbiotic commensal bacteria to acquire virulence traits, proliferate, and become directly involved in the development of disease. These bacteria are referred to as "pathobionts", which are distinct from opportunistic pathogens.
C. difficile, which is a Gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic bacterium, is a pathobiont and the representative cause of nosocomial diarrhea following antibiotic treatment. Since antibiotic usage has the risk of killing beneficial bacteria and promoting dysbiosis, the development of methods to specifically manipulate intestinal pathobionts is essential.
"Phages were sure to be applicable as a highly specific therapy for intestinal pathobiont elimination", believed Professor Satoshi Uematsu. The infectious associations between phages and bacteria in the human intestine is essential information for the development of phage therapies. Known as "viral dark matter" as it had yet to be understood, researchers obtained metagenome information about bacteria-phage associations from the fecal samples of 101 healthy individuals through the development of a virome analysis pipeline. Based on this information, researchers screened C. difficile-specific phages and identified novel antibacterial enzymes, both in vitro and in vivo.
"The accumulation of more metagenomic information on intestinal phages and bacteria will open up the possibility of developing treatments for a variety of dysbiosis-related diseases", say Dr. Kosuke Fujimoto and Prof. Seiya Imoto.
Phage shell docks on and inhibits the influenza virus. Credit: Barth van Rossum / FMP
A new approach brings the hope of new therapeutic options for suppressing seasonal influenza and avian flu. On the basis of an empty and therefore non-infectious shell of a phage virus, researchers from Berlin have developed a chemically modified phage capsid that stifles influenza viruses.
Perfectly fitting binding sites cause influenza viruses to be enveloped by the phage capsids in such a way that it is practically impossible for them to infectlung cells. This phenomenon has been proven in preclinical trials using human lung tissue. Researchers from the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Freie Universität Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin (TU), Humboldt-Universität (HU), the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin report that the results are also being used for the immediate investigation of the coronavirus. The findings have now been published inNature Nanotechnology.
Influenza viruses are still highly dangerous. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that flu is responsible for up to 650,000 deaths per year worldwide. Current antiviral drugs are only partially effective because they attack the influenza virus after lung cells have been infected. It would be desirable—and much more effective—to prevent infection in the first place.
This is exactly what the new approach from Berlin promises. The phage capsid, developed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, envelops flu viruses so perfectly that they can no longer infect cells. "Pre-clinical trials show that we are able to render harmless both seasonal influenza viruses and avian flu viruses with our chemically modified phage shell," explained Professor Dr. Christian Hackenberger, Head of the Department Chemical Biology at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) and Leibniz Humboldt Professor for Chemical Biology at HU Berlin. "It is a major success that offers entirely new perspectives for the development of innovative antiviral drugs."
Multiple bonds fit like Velcro
The new inhibitor makes use of trivalent receptors on the surface of the influenza virus, referred to as hemagglutinin protein, that attach to sugar molecules (sialic acids) on the cell surfaces of lung tissue. In the case of infection, viruses hook into their victim—in this case, lung cells—like a hook-and-loop fastener. The core principle is that these interactions occur due to multiple bonds, rather than single bonds.
It was the surface structure of flu viruses that inspired the researchers to ask the following initial question more than six years ago: Would it not be possible to develop an inhibitor that binds to trivalent receptors with a perfect fit, simulating the surface of lung tissue cells?
They found that this is indeed possible with the help of a harmless intestinal inhabitant: The Q-beta phage has the ideal surface properties and is excellently suited to equip it with ligands—in this case, sugar molecules—as "bait." An empty phage shell does the job perfectly. "Our multivalent scaffold molecule is not infectious, and comprises 180 identical proteins that are spaced out exactly as the trivalent receptors of the hemagglutinin on the surface of the virus," explained Dr. Daniel Lauster, a former Ph.D. student in the Group of Molecular Biophysics (HU) and now a postdoc at Freie Universität Berlin. "It therefore has the ideal starting conditions to deceive the influenza virus—or, to be more precise, to attach to it with a perfect spatial fit. In other words, we use a phage virus to disable the influenza virus!"
To enable the Q-beta scaffold to fulfill the desired function, it must first be chemically modified. Produced from E. coli bacteria at TU Berlin, Professor Hackenberger's research group at FMP and HU Berlin use synthetic chemistry to attach sugar molecules to the defined positions of the virus shell.
Virus is deceived and enveloped
Several studies using animal models and cell cultures have proven that the suitably modified spherical structure possesses considerable bond strength and inhibiting potential. The study also enabled the Robert Koch Institute to examine the antiviral potential of phage capsids against many current influenza virus strains, and even against avian flu viruses. Its therapeutic potential has even been proven on human lung tissue, as fellow researchers from the Medical Department, Division of Infectiology and Pneumology, of Charité were able to show: When tissue infected with flu viruses was treated with the phage capsid, the influenza viruses were practically no longer able to reproduce.
The results are supported by structural proof by FU scientists from the Research Center of Electron Microscopy (FZEM): High-resolution cryo-electron microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy show directly and spatially that the inhibitor completely encapsulates the virus. In addition, mathematical-physical models were used to simulate the interaction between influenza viruses and the phage capsid on the computer. "Our computer-assisted calculations show that the rationally designed inhibitor does indeed attach to the hemagglutinin, and completely envelops the influenza virus," confirmed Dr. Susanne Liese from the AG Netz of Freie Universität Berlin. "It was therefore also possible to describe and explain the high bond strength mathematically."
Therapeutic potential requires further research
These findings must now be followed up by more preclinical studies. It is not yet known, for example, whether the phage capsid provokes an immune response in mammals. Ideally, this response could even enhance the effect of the inhibitor. However, it could also be the case that an immune response reduces the efficacy of phage capsids in the case of repeated-dose exposure, or that flu viruses develop resistances. And, of course, it has yet to be proven that the inhibitor is also effective in humans.
Nonetheless, the alliance of Berlin researchers is certain that the approach has great potential. "Our rationally developed, three-dimensional, multivalent inhibitor points to a new direction in the development of structurally adaptable influenzavirus binders. This is the first achievement of its kind in multivalency research," emphasized Professor Hackenberger. The chemist believes that this approach, which is biodegradable, non-toxic and non-immunogenic in cell culture studies, can in principle also be applied to other viruses, and possibly also to bacteria. It is evident that the authors regard the application of their approach to the current coronavirus as one of their new challenges. The idea is to develop a drug that prevents coronaviruses from binding to host cells located in the throat and subsequent airways, thus preventing infection.
More information: Daniel Lauster et al, Phage capsid nanoparticles with defined ligand arrangement block influenza virus entry, Nature Nanotechnology (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-020-0660-2
We share the Earth with more than 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 phages. Everywhere they thrive, from well-fed guts to near-boiling acidic springs, from cryoconite holes to endolithic fissures. They travel from one microbial host to the next as virions, their genetic weapons packaged inside a protective protein shell. If you could lay all of these nanoscopic phage virions side-by-side, the line-up would stretch over 42 million light years. Through their daily shenanigans they kill or collaborate with their microbial hosts to spur microbial evolution and maintain ecosystem functioning. We have learned much about them since their discovery by Frederick Twort a century ago. They also taught us that DNA, not protein, is the hereditary material, unraveled the triplet genetic code, and offered their enzymes as indispensible tools for the molecular biology revolution. More contributions will be forthcoming since the vast majority of phages await discovery. Phage genomes harbor the world's largest cache of unexplored genetic diversity, and we now have the equipment needed to go prospecting. Although there are field guides to birds, insects, wild flowers, even Bacteria, there was no such handbook to guide the phage explorer. Forest Rohwer decided to correct this oversight, for novice and expert alike, and thus was born Life in Our Phage World. A diverse collection of 30 phages are featured. Each phage is characterized by its distinctive traits, including details about its genome, habitat, lifestyle, global range, and close relatives. The beauty of its intricate virion is captured in a pen-and-ink portrait by artist Benjamin Darby. Each phage also stars in a carefully researched action story relating how that phage encounters, exploits, kills, or otherwise manipulates its host. These behaviors are imaginatively illustrated by fine artist Leah L. Pantea. Eight researchers that work closely with phages also relate their experiences as inhabitants of the phage world. Rohwer has years of first-hand experience with the phage multitudes in ecosystems ranging from coral reefs to the human lung to arctic waters. He pioneered the key metagenomic methods now widely used to catalog and characterize Earth's microbial and viral life. Despite research advances, most people, many scientists included, remain unaware of the ongoing drama in our phage world. In anticipation of 2015, the centennial of phage discovery, Forest assembled a cadre of writers, artists, scientists, and a cartographer and set them to work. The result? This alluring field guide-a feast for the imagination and a celebration of phage diversity.
REVIEWS
John R. Dale 5.0 out of 5 stars
Readable and artistic book on a microbiological subject.
Reviewed in Canada on August 2, 2015 Format: Hardcover Beautifully designed book. Science and Art well linked and represented in a collectors book for the bookshelf. Also actually really informative and full of humour as it weaves tales of the phage kingdom and they become alive (maybe? !) The diagrams are creatively done and add to the reading pleasure. All in all well worth the pride as a hardcover. I am actually reading it through rather than treating it as a reference book.
DESNUES Christelle 5.0 out of 5 stars A must read book!
Reviewed in France on January 23, 2015 Format: Hardcover This book is a real "chef d'oeuvre"! It both stimulates your eyes AND your mind! I highly recommend "Life in Our Phage World" for students, scientists or just for curious people... As you open the first pages, you truly explore a new dimensional world....the wonderful world of phages! So don't wait...read it! Christelle Desnues PhD, CNRS, France
jaultpat 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in France on May 8, 2016 Format: Hardcover Excellent ouvrage de référence sur la biologie des phages, une synthèse actuelle de toute la littérature sur le sujet. Indispensable.
Mark O. Martin 5.0 out of 5 stars
At the intersection of virology, art, and fine writing.
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2015 Format: Hardcover
I have to tell you: I adore this book, and for a number of important reasons. First, it is an accessible introduction and reminder of how central viruses are to the biosphere, with a unique and engaging perspective. With all the talk about the "microbiome" in the news, the more numerous and just as important "virobiome" does not get as much attention or PR. We tend to reflexively think of viruses as "bad," when in fact viruses help keep ecological systems in balance (and that may very well include issues of human health). Bacteriophages, bacterial viruses, are not only fascinating as a model system, genetic tool, and driver of ecological balance....but beautiful to behold.
This brings me to something special about this fine book, by authors possessing expertise, writing chops, and enthusiasm (as well as quirky humor): the artwork. I am used to "scientific publications" being somewhat dry and technical. Not so with this publication. This is a beautiful as well as informative tome. If you have any interest in the intersection of art and biology, this book is simply a "must have."
Let me say something really important to finish up this review: the Amazon system states that this book is "temporarily out of stock," and implies it will take some time to receive. I ordered my copy early January, and received it in less than a week. I have no explanation for the verbiage. If you order this lovely book, you will get it quickly. It's a great book, and sits with pride on my office bookshelf. HARDCOVER ONLY $109.46 CDN I SAID CHECK IT OUT I DID NOT SAY BUY IT THIS BOOK IS NOT ILLUSTRATED AND IS MUCH CHEAPER ONLY $29 CDN PB KINDLE I CAME ACROSS ANNA KUCHMENT WRITING SCIENCE COLUMNS ON FRACKING FOR HER LOCAL DALLAS PAPER AND SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN I POSTED THEM HERE. THEN I FOUND OUT SHE WROTE A MUCH NEEDED HISTORY OF PHAGE SCIENCE.
Before the arrival of penicillin in the 1940s, phage therapy was one of the few weapons doctors had against bacterial infections. It saved the life of Hollywood legend Tom Mix before being abandoned by Western science. Now, researchers and physicians are rediscovering the treatment, which pits phage viruses against their natural bacterial hosts, as a potential weapon against antibiotic-resistant infections.
The Forgotten Cure traces the story of phages from Paris, where they were discovered in 1917; to Tbilisi, Georgia, where one of phage therapy’s earliest proponents died at the hands of Stalin; to the Nobel podium, where prominent scientists have been recognized for breakthroughs stemming from phage research. Today, a crop of biotech startups and dedicated physicians is racing to win regulatory approval for phage therapy before superbugs exhaust the last drug in the medical arsenal. Will they clear the hurdles in time?
From the Back Cover
“Bacteriophages have the potential to stop many if not most life threatening, drug resistant bacterial infections. The Forgotten Cure is a non-stop, cover to cover read.”
James D. Watson, Nobel Laureate
“A lively tale of killer viruses, superbugs and a magical cure that has all the twists of a cold-war spy novel.” – George Hackett, Newsweek magazine
“A marvelous, jargon-free historical account of the genesis, the ups-and-downs, and the current renaissance of phage therapy. The Forgotten Cure ranks at the level of Judson’s Eighth Day of Creation.”
Sankar Adhya
National Institutes of Health
The Forgotten Cure: How a Long Lost Treatment Can Save Lives in the 21st Century
Top international reviews
NurseyC 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, a surprisingly absorbing read! Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2013 Verified Purchase I have just started and near finished this book over the last two days, and have thus far found the stories and histories found here to be utterly captivating. I had wanted to buy the print edition rather than the Kindle editions but the ability to electronically keep notes and comments always woo's me! Perhaps I shall purchase the print edition a little later as I will enjoy having this on my bookshelf. Bravo to the author for bringing the subject quite alive for us science enthusiasts :)
JJ 5.0 out of 5 stars Very good Book Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2013 Verified Purchase A Very good book for getting an overview of the history of phages and the current developments in this field. Easily readable and short.
Gert Bo Thorgersen 5.0 out of 5 stars Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2013 Verified Purchase
These wise words was written by George Santayana, back in the year 1905, and are very parallel to the story we read in this book, that is concerning the rediscovering of the Phage Therapy.
To me the book was extremely interesting to read, but to most people it would help much if there inside the book, or on the front side, were 1 or 2 pictures of Phages, because the Phages are so strange looking, being extremely different to what we are used in seeing. Actual the Phages mostly are looking like some of the robots we have seen in films, in cartoons, or on the front covers to the novel by H. G. Wells: "War of the Worlds". But as the Phages are around 40 times smaller than the bacteria's which they attacks (or rarely, working together with), then a picture number 2 showing a Phage positioned, and working, on a bacteria, which it has attacked, would help furthermore. Of course we nowadays, by going to the Internet, can find pictures showing the Phages, but not everybody is using PCs. And furthermore, without doubt, more persons would be interested in reading this book, and thereby learning more about these strange Phages, when by browsing around in the book, seeing drawings of the Phages.
The book is good in telling the historical background, concerning the discovery of the Phage, by d'Herelle. And as we again and again are going to the institute in Georgian, where Eliava, with connecting to d'Herelle, started the work on the Phage Therapy, we then read about the actual Russian history then passing by, after the Russian revolution in 1917. And learn that Eliava was executed by Stalin or Beria. But even though I'm from Denmark, and thereby not from Russia, I must point out that we are missing 2 important points that without doubt have connections to Stalins horrifying killing of many people. In the book, as in nearly all of the historical books, we are not told that actual, after The Revolution in 1917, when the First World War was over, Russia in 1918 was invaded, from all sides, by USA, England, France, and Germany, and the war lasted until 1923. And furthermore before The Revolution, under the Tsar, a brother to Stalin had been executed. So without doubt these cases were some of the reason to the cruelty of Stalin. But in any case Lenin had warned against Stalin, that was, not to let him be the following leader.
In the book there are many interesting cases, both concerning patients and concerning the discoveries, and the works, done by the science persons. For example we on the side 1, are learning how the first great American screen idol, Tom Mix, back in the year 1931, when he developed a stomachache and thereby nearly having no chance in surviving, (precisely the same happened to me, back in the year 1963, when I was 16 years old, and I was close to dying). Opposite to all odds Tom Mix was cured, as his doctor was having more knowledge than normal for the doctors, and thereby knew a person to contact for with help from him trying to cure in another way, by the Phage Therapy, when there was no chance when using the normal known methods.
But we already, on the side ix, in the book, are reading about a case of Fred Bledsoe, who in 2002, stepped on a rusty nail, which resulted in so bad infection that the doctor advised him to have his foot amputated. But by an accident, a friend to him, in TV saw the episode "Silent Killers", in the CBS news program "48 hours", and thereby learned about the world's oldest institute concerning Phage, laying in Tbilisi in Georgia. And he ended traveling to this strange place, and he then was cured. And the book finish with on the side 123 starting a parallel case, actual about Laura Robert, who none of the doctors expected to be living past the end of 2005. And after she also, in TV, by an accident saw the program "48 hours", then went to Georgia and was totally cured.
And in the history concerning the discovery of the Phage, we on the side 83 starts reading about how the English scientist, M. E. Hankin, in 1896, when living in India, set out to discover why the people could bath in Ganges river without getting sick. When epidemics of Cholera swept through central India, and when people were using the river for anything besides bath, for cloth washing, and even dumping partly burnt corpses into the Ganges. And by research he could conclude that the water was containing an antiseptic which acted on the Cholera germ.
But it was Felix d'Herelle who discovered the Phage, by two cases, and then clearly being able to talk about it, and making more research. As we learn on the side 7, when he first during research, discovered and was wondering why some of his bacterial cultures had died. But It was first when he again in 1916, during the war, when he was analyzing stool from soldier, discovered his taches verges again, that he started working on this strange discovery. And we read about the fighting between d'Herelle and his chief and other persons about this Phage, among other, whether the Phages are living organism or not, or if it's something made by the bacteria's or not. But especially it's interesting to learn how little doctor education d'Herelle was getting, but mostly was being educated buy himself.
But through the book we are getting many parallel cases telling how persons, during the last 20 years, by accidents, are rediscovered, the Phage Therapy, and then, especially since the year 2000, have started working in gropes for making firms working with the Phage Therapy. That is especially to work on the discovering on the actual Phages to the actual sickness, as there is thought to be around 100,000 different Phages, and each Phage only is working on one special bacteria.
A highly interesting book concerning Phage Therapy which we without doubt, in the future, will be hearing much more about.
Legendkhan 3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting story, but... Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2017 Verified Purchase While the book describes an important narrative in the potential for phage therapy, I feel that it falls short of truly captivating the reader in the history of the bacteriophage, which is mostly due to poor editing etiquette (as in referencing to one individual by 2 or 3 different names, which can be quite confusing when someone's last name is used 5 times in a row and then their first name is used outside of speech). I would have also liked to see more of an explanation/ in-depth look at current phage technologies and practices.
spigdog 5.0 out of 5 stars I'm very glad I read this book. Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2012 Verified Purchase This book describes the history of "phage" therapy, the use of bacteriophages (a type of virus) to treat bacterial infections. While antibiotics are usually effective, phages are an alternative treatment that have the advantage of having much smaller side effects since each type of phage targets very specific bacteria, unlike antibiotics. On the other hand, this makes phages more difficult to use, since one needs to find the right type of phage (out of thousands and thousands of types) to treat your disease.
The book covers phage therapy starting from their discovery in the early 1900's to today, where several companies have been trying to commercialize the technology. It's a fascinating journey, and I couldn't help thinking that phage therapy would be much more common in the U.S. if only phages didn't occur naturally, which makes it hard for drug companies to charge a lot of money for them. In any case, it makes me feel a little safer in this age of antibiotic-resistant supergerms to know there are other treatments out there (even if apparently not that many U.S. doctors do), and I thank Ms. Kuchment for her interesting and educational account.
The Perfect Predator: A Scientist's Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A MemoirHardcover– Feb 26 2019
A "fascinating and terrifying" (Scientific American) memoir of one woman's extraordinary effort to save her husband's life-and the discovery of a forgotten cure that has the potential to save millions more.
Epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee and her husband, psychologist Tom Patterson, were vacationing in Egypt when Tom came down with a stomach bug. What at first seemed like a case of food poisoning quickly turned critical, and by the time Tom had been transferred via emergency medevac to the world-class medical center at UC San Diego, where both he and Steffanie worked, blood work revealed why modern medicine was failing: Tom was fighting one of the most dangerous, antibiotic- resistant bacteria in the world.
Frantic, Steffanie combed through research old and new and came across phage therapy: the idea that the right virus, aka "the perfect predator," can kill even the most lethal bacteria. Phage treatment had fallen out of favor almost 100 years ago, after antibiotic use went mainstream. Now, with time running out, Steffanie appealed to phage researchers all over the world for help. She found allies at the FDA, researchers from Texas A&M, and a clandestine Navy biomedical center-and together they resurrected a forgotten cure.
A nail-biting medical mystery, The Perfect Predator is a story of love and survival against all odds, and the (re)discovery of a powerful new weapon in the global superbug crisis.
STAT News, "Best Health and Science Books to Read This Summer"
"A fascinating and terrifying peek into the devastating outcomes of antibiotic misuse -- and what happens when standard health care falls short."―Scientific American
"[A] gripping and intriguing medical thriller...This page-turner of a couple's determination to survive also serves as a dire warning regarding the consequences of the overuse of antibiotics."―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A thriller, a detective story, and at its core a profound romance, The Perfect Predator is [a] breathtaking story.... It's a warning of the havoc that awaits us as antibiotics lose their power, and a glimpse of the science that could hold that dark future at bay - if we can summon the funding and the political will to create it."―Maryn McKenna, Senior Fellow of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University and author of Big Chicken and Superbug
"At once terrifying and inspiring, The Perfect Predator is a brilliant race-against-the-clock medical thriller that is also a celebration of love, commitment, and the power of scientific collaboration."―Steven Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and The Ghost Map
"A remarkable story of love, resilience, the science of discovery, and quite possibly the future of medicine."―Richard Horton, FRCP, FMedSci, Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet
"One of the single most compelling personal stories we've ever heard."―Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, authors of The Essential Guide to Getting your Book Published
"A real-life medical thriller...fast paced [and] the writing is always infused with humor, hope, and intelligence, and the couple's remarkable story is grounded in real-life details that bring readers directly into their world. Dark, surreal poetic."―Kirkus Reviews
"The Perfect Predator is a compelling and heart-wrenching medical drama that would be completely unbelievable - if it weren't 100% true! Strathdee and Patterson masterfully weave together the personal, medical, and scientific strands of their battle against one of the world's worst superbugs, bringing not just Patterson, but a century-old medical technology back from the brink of death. This first-hand account of the front lines of the battle against the scourge of antimicrobial resistance underscores the human cost underlying the bland statistics."―Rob Knight, PhD, Director, Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California San Diego and author of Follow Your Gut and Dirt Is Good
"[A] riveting tale...The saga reads like a thriller....Remarkable passages from Patterson [describe] how he interpreted events through veils of feverish delirium, pain-killer fog, and coma."―Laurie Garrett, The Lancet
About the Author(s)
Steffanie Strathdee is an infectious disease epidemiologist, and Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences and Professor and Harold Simon Chair at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. She also directs the new UC San Diego center for Innovative Phage Application and Therapeutics and is an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins and Simon Fraser Universities. She has been named one of TIME's 50 Most Influential People in Health Care.
Thomas Patterson is an evolutionary sociobiologist and an experimental psychologist. A Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at UC San Diego, he has renowned expertise on behavioral interventions among HIV-positive persons and those at high risk of acquiring HIV and sexually transmitted infections.
Dr. Patterson and Dr. Strathdee have worked as husband-and-wife AIDS researchers on the Mexico-US border for over a decade. This is their first book together.
"We were at the point where there was no other hope, they said she wasn't going to leave the hospital and had less than 1% chance of survival."
But after being treated with a cocktail of bacteriophages – viruses which are specialised to kill the bacteria but not infect human cells – she is now back taking her GCSEs and learning to drive. DISCOVERED BY RUSSIANS AND DEVELOPED BY SOVIET SCIENCE AS AN ALTERNATIVE THERAPY TO ANTIBIOTICS, IGNORED BY THE WEST FOR SEVENTY YEARS UNTIL THE ADVENT OF SUPERBUGS
A bacteriophage also known informally as a phage is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria and archaea. The term was derived from "bacteria" and...
Phage therapy or viral phage therapy is the therapeutic use of bacteriophages to treat pathogenic bacterial infections. Phage therapy has many potential ...
May 30, 2006 - Bacteriophages are viruses found virtually everywhere—from soil to ... Western scientists, and patients, to travel to former Soviet Georgia to give
Oct 12, 2018 - To a historian of biology, bacteriophages are most familiar as a key model ... Why did phage therapy appeal to Soviet medicine, and why did it ...
