Reinventing the fight against bacteria, one phage at a time.

Bacteriophage Therapies for Lung Diseases Identifying novel therapeutics for treating patients with tuberculosis, nontuberculous mycobacterial infections and cystic fibrosis Technology Overview Dr. Rhea Coler Bacterial resistance to standard antibiotics is growing worldwide. In 2023, one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections were antibiotic-resistant. In the United States, an estimated 2.8 million people contract an antibiotic-resistant infection annually, leading to 35,000 deaths every year. The bacterium that causes tuberculosis regularly evolves resistance to antibiotic treatment and many nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have natural resistance. Infectious disease specialist  Rhea Coler , PhD, develops innovative strategies to prevent and treat tuberculosis, NTM infections, and other bacterial lung diseases. Her lab is advancing the use of bacteriophages, which are viruses that attack bacterial cells, as highly specific antibacterial agents. Bacteriophages have the p...

Webinar - Phage therapy in agriculture: From discovery to field application Thursday, 12th March, 4pm to 5pm (UK time) - in Microsoft Teams Bacterial pathogens pose a major threat to global food security, ecosystems, and commercial agriculture, causing significant economic losses. In the UK, black rot in brassicas and bacterial canker in cherries severely affect vegetable and fruit production. As traditional chemical controls lose effectiveness and antimicrobial resistance rises, there is an urgent need for sustainable, targeted alternatives. Bacteriophages (phages), naturally occurring viruses that infect and kill bacteria, offer a promising strategy for managing plant bacterial diseases. Unlike chemical treatments, phages can selectively eliminate pathogenic bacteria without harming beneficial microbes, preserving the plant microbiome. Effective phage-based control relies on isolating and characterising phages, understanding their infection dynamics, and assessing their ability to su...

Conceptual Mechanistic Framework for Induced Native Phage Therapy (INPT) in Multidrug-Resistant Infections and Tumor-Associated Microbiomes Induced Native Phage Therapy (INPT) and related Inducen® formulations are intended to function as an important key component of a broader, integrative, non-cytotoxic therapeutic strategy. They are not proposed as standalone cancer treatment, but as adjunctive interventions designed to address contributory microbial drivers of oncogenesis while preserving commensal microbiome integrity. List of 10 Bacterial Infections That Can Instigate Cancer Below is a reproduced and updated list of various bacterial infections known or suspected to instigate cancer, based on our previous discussions and peer-reviewed research from the web search results. The list focuses on key bacteria, the associated cancer types, and the mechanisms by which they initiate or promote carcinogenesis. These mechanisms often involve chronic inflammation, DNA damage, immune...

Stability of bacteriophages in spray-dried polymeric formulations: Effect of excipient polyvinylpyrrolidone glass transition temperature and molecular weight (A summary) Abstract: The development of stable dry-state bacteriophage formulations is essential for expanding the therapeutic applicability of phage therapy and reducing cold-chain dependency. This study evaluates the long-term stability of spray-dried PEV1 bacteriophage formulated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) polymers of varying molecular weights (K15, K25, K40, K100). Formulations were stored for 180 days under controlled temperature (4, 22, and 40 °C) and relative humidity (15–53% RH) conditions. Differential scanning calorimetry demonstrated that glass transition temperature (Tg) increased with polymer molecular weight but decreased significantly with increasing humidity, consistent with water-induced plasticization. At low humidity (15% RH), all formulations maintained high stability (≤1 log10 titre loss) at 4 and 22 °C....