Viral Bacteria-Killers

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03/06/2009

Mar. 06, 2009

Viral Bacteria-Killers

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Could engineered viruses help conquer antibiotic-resistant bacteria? Writing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers propose a high-tech update to phage therapy in which bacteriophage viruses are specially designed to target parts of antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA. The engineered phage viruses would be used in conjunction with regular antibiotics. The phages, the researchers believe, would infect the bacteria and produce a protein that can disrupt a repair mechanism that contributes to drug resistance. The bacteria would then be susceptible to a knockout punch from the antibiotics. So far, the work has only been tested in mice -- but the researchers say it is promising. We'll find out more.

Produced by Christopher Intagliata, Associate Senior Producer

Guests

Jim Collins
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Boston University

Boston, Massachusetts

Mar. 06, 2009