Why tiny viruses could be our best bet against antimicrobial resistance
By: Jessica Hamzelou
Regular readers will know that the microbiome is one of my favorite topics to cover. The billions of bacteria crawling all over our bodies play a vital role in our health, influencing everything from digestion to immune health and even our moods.
But there’s something else that makes a home inside us. Bacteriophages—or phages for short—are microscopic viruses even smaller than our gut microbes. These viruses infect bacteria and turn them into factories to make more of themselves.
Phages were discovered over a hundred years ago, and a small band of scientists quickly realized their potential. Because these viruses can kill bacteria, they could potentially be used to treat a whole host of nasty bacterial infections.
