Poster: Phage Therapy
Savani Nagarkar
Extensive use of antibiotics has led to a rise in antibiotic resistance which in turn is causing worldwide expansion of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. Without a second thought, phage therapy seems to be a promising approach to battle against intensifying antibiotic resistance. Phages are highly specific towards particular strains of bacteria & if the target site contains different strains of bacteria then only one type of phage won’t be sufficient to lyse the other strains, thus scientists create a cocktail that consists of different phages acting on different strains of bacteria causing the infection. Apart from the therapeutic advantages of phage, little emphasis has been given to phage-base probiotics, which act prophylactically as well as flourishes the microbiota of the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract. One of the most crucial steps in phage therapy is the selection & characterization of a phage, as we do not want the phage to interact with non-target sites (probably multiple tissues), therefore giving undesirable clinical outcomes. Scientists believe that phage therapy holds astounding potential in various clinical applications.
