Using viruses to battle superbugs (phage therapy): Dr. Jessica Sacher

Joyful Microbe

Imagine the last time you were sick and needed antibiotics...now imagine that you took the antibiotic, but the infection didn’t go away. The antibiotic didn’t work. And then the next one didn’t. And then the next one, all the way until none of them worked.

It happens. And although I’ve never personally experienced this, I’d think it would be terrifying.

What would you do? Recently, some doctors have started using viruses called bacteriophages (or phages for short) that can kill bacteria. It’s called phage therapy, and it’s saving people’s lives.

In the US, phage therapy is something doctors can access only through special authorization by the FDA. But it’s gaining popularity. And in some countries, phage therapy is actually the preferred treatment of choice, but we’ll get to that later.

So, on this podcast episode, I talk to Dr. Jessica Sacher, who is the co-founder of Phage Directory, an organization that connects doctors and patients to scientists that work with phages. Phage Directory simplifies the process of finding the treatment patients desperately need for bacterial infections that have stopped responding to antibiotics.

When the antibiotics stop working, phages can cure superbug infections.

In this episode, you will learn about…

• An introduction to viruses
• Phages: viruses that infect bacteria
• How to see viruses
• Most viruses do not make us sick
• Could phages ever make us sick?
• What makes phages so specific to the bacteria they infect?
• What is phage therapy?
• Phage Directory: connecting doctors and patients to scientists with phages
• At-home microbiology activity: Fishing with phages

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