Bacteriophages: A Promising Alternative to Antibiotics

Antibiotics are widely used to treat bacterial infections and save patients from infections that were previously deadly. But, due to the overuse of antibiotics, bacterial resistance began emerging, leading to increasing difficulties in treating some infections. Bacterial resistance simply means that the bacteria somehow build a defense mechanism against the antibiotic administered, so it is resistant to it. This problem encourages scientists to explore new routes in treating these infections and fighting these pathogenic bacteria.

What are Bacteriophages?

One promising alternative is called bacteriophages or phages, which are viruses that can target and infect bacteria. The advantage of using phages is that they are very specific and target bacterial cells, and do not infect humans and animals. Bacteriophages live in soil and water. In my freshman year, our lab focused on isolating and discovering new phages to contribute to eliminating bacterial resistance and identifying new alternatives. I discovered one phage and named it "Mima," and here is the link with all the details: https://phagesdb.org/phages/Mima/

How Do Bacteriophages Work?

Here are the steps by which the phages infect and kill the disease-causing bacteria:

1. Attachment to the bacterium: The phage lands on the bacterium by attaching to specific receptors of a bacterial cell.

   
   

2. Injection of genetic material: The phage injects its DNA or RNA into the bacterium, and the phage's empty shell remains outside the bacterium.

   
   

3. Hijacking the bacterial machinery: The phage takes over the bacterium's machinery and starts producing new phage components, including viral proteins.

   
   

4. Assembly of new phages: The newly produced components are assembled into complete bacteriophages inside the bacterium.

   
   

5. Destruction of bacterium: This is the last step where the phages are released by lysing the bacterial cell wall.