Antimicrobial resistance is the leading world concern for the medicine producing companies. The antimicrobial drugs are meant to kill the microbes but microbes are also developing resistant to these drugs. So we need a high dose of that particular drug to kill the same organism next time. The antimicrobial medicines are applied to all microorganism without distinguishing them but bacteriophage is emerging as solution for the problem.
Bacteriophages are viruses that attack the bacteria. Bacteriophages are highly specific to bacterial cell and attack the receptors on the membrane of specific bacteria species. So these can be used to kill or target the specific species of bacteria instead of applying the antimicrobial drug to all bacteria.
Many novel approaches are being investigated as an alternative to antimicrobial drugs. For example, researchers are testing the effectiveness and safety of using bacteriophages to specifically target one bacterial species.
Explanation:
Bacteriophages are a type of virus that infect and attack bacteria. Bacteriophages can exhibit a lytic cycle that ends in the lysis of the bacteria they infect. Each bacteriophage is specific for a bacterial species. Due to the increase in antibiotic resistance in bacteria, the study of phages as a therapeutic alternative has increased, this is known as phage therapy. Some studies have confirmed the efficacy of bacteriophages in skin and intestinal infections. However, they are still in clinical trials to verify the safety and therapeutic efficacy of this phage therapy. Some disadvantages to be solved include the absence of undesirable elements in the phages, knowing and studying the best way to administer them, etc.
