Most people associate viruses with illness and suffering, however, considering that the vast majority of viruses cause no illness and are actually beneficial to humans and the planet as a whole, this sentiment is largely misplaced.
Shortly after Félix d€™Herelle discovered viruses that infect bacteria in 1917 (also found in 1915 by Twort), he recognized their therapeutic potential for treating infections. The discovery of penicillin in 1928 began the golden age of antibiotics, which pushed aside progress in treating infections with bacteriophages. With the advent of widespread antimicrobial resistance, development of …
The TWiV team travels to Texas A&M University, home of the Center for Phage Technology, where they speak with Ry Young and Jason Gill about their work on viruses that infect bacteria. <span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span><span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span>&lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: …
Not long after their discovery, viruses that infect bacteria – bacteriophages – were considered as therapeutic agents for treating infections. Despite many years of research on so-called phage therapy, clinical trials have produced conflicting results. They might be explained in part by the results of a new study which show that the host innate immune system …
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit Vincent, Alan, and Rich review questions and comments from TWiV listeners [powerpress url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV151.mp3″] Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV 151 (49 MB .mp3, 81 minutes). Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or …
