Bacteriophages are natural microorganisms, existing without any human interference wherever bacteria are found. The DNA, which carries the genetic instructions for the production of the bacteria specific phages, is found within bacteria.
Scientists have discovered that this production of phages in bacteria could be induced. If we could manipulate these phages which are specific to the particular strain of pathogenic bacteria so that they are produced in their most efficient bacteria-destroying form, this could be very beneficial.
Phelix is not the only one to believe in the use of bacteriophages as a tool to treat bacterial infection. As you can see from the paper below, there is a history of research into their use.
Unexploited opportunities for phage therapy
Bacteriophages (phages) are natural predators of bacteria that specifically parasite bacteria to replicate, and were discovered in the early part of the twentieth century, independently by Twort (1915) and d’Herelle (1917) (Summers, 2005). The ability to kill bacteria was soon therapeutically explored by d’Hérelle and his followers while fighting various bacterial infections around the world, such as the bubonic plague in Southeast Asia, dysentery in France, and cholera in India. Phage therapy was extensively used to treat infectious diseases during World War II too (Summers, 2001). However, insufficient knowledge of phage biology, low quality control of phage preparations and lack of solid scientific evidence of therapeutic successes led to phage failure over the newly discovered antibiotics till the second half of the twentieth century.
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