Attack of the bacteria eaters

Bacteria that cannot be treated with antibiotics are one of the greatest medical threats of our time. In the fight against it, researchers are now rediscovering a hundred-year-old antidote that sounds almost too good to be true. In June 2018, Eva Maria Maicovski and her husband fly to Tbilisi, where they spend three weeks. They live in…

Could phage therapy help combat antimicrobial resistance?

Antimicrobial Resistance killed over a million people in 2019. That figure is expected to rise to ten million by 2050. Antibiotics remain vital to modern medicine, but this hidden pandemic of drug-resistant superbugs is driving scientists to explore possible alternatives. One type of therapy in particular is attracting serious scientific interest: bacteriophages. Phages are viruses that…

How To Battle Superbugs With Viruses That “eat” Them

Some bacteria have evolved resistance, creating a growing army of “superbugs” against which there is no effective treatment. Antimicrobial resistance is expected to kill 10m people a year by 2050, up from around 1m in 2019. But there is a promising, if obscure, alternative that is also worth a look. Microbiologists have known for decades that disease-causing bacteria can…

Anil Leidet an Chronischen Lungeninfekten. Eine Längst Vergessen Geglaubte Therapie Gibt Ihm Neue Hoffnung

Antibiotika verlieren an Wirkung. Für Schwerkranke gibt es eine neue Hoffnung, die eigentlich alt ist: die Phagentherapie. Wer kann von den Viren, die keine Krankheiten verursachen, sondern Bakterien zerstören, profitieren? Anil war zwölf, als er zum ersten Mal Viren inhalierte. Er saß auf seinem Bett auf Station 63 der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover (MHH), in der Klinik…

Phage Therapy in Georgia

Es ist „seine letzte Chance“, sagt Dieter Offermann. Der 60-Jährige fliegt nach Tiflis, Georgien, um sein Bein zu retten. Seit sieben Jahren kämpft er gegen Bakterien, die nach einer Knie-OP in die Wunde eingedrungen sind. Kein Antibiotikum hilft. Die Ärzte raten zur Amputation. Wird die Phagentherapie in Georgien sein Bein retten können? Watch Here Source:…

Viruses That Could Save Millions of Lives

It may seem strange after a pandemic that has killed millions and turned the world upside down, but viruses could save just as many lives. In a petri dish in a laboratory in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, a battle is going on between antibiotic resistant bacteria and “friendly” viruses. This small nation in the Caucasus…

Phenotypic and Genetic Characterization of Aeromonas Hydrophila

Abstract Phage therapy can be an effective alternative to standard antimicrobial chemotherapy for control of Aeromonas hydrophila infections in aquaculture. Aeromonas hydrophila-specific phages AhMtk13a and AhMtk13b were studied for basic biological properties and genome characteristics. Phage AhMtk13a (Myovirus, 163,879 bp genome, 41.21% CG content) was selected based on broad lytic spectrum and physiologic parameters indicating its lytic nature.…

Significance of lysogeny for the Metabolism of Desulfovibrio spp. Strains Isolated From Aquatic Environments of Georgia

Abstract Aims: Sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are ecologically important group of anaerobic micro-organisms that can reduce sulphate to form hydrogen sulphide-a toxic gas causing iron corrosion on metal surfaces. In this work, SRB strains were isolated from aquatic environments in the country of Georgia to determine their lysogenicity and the role of temperate phages in host metabolism.…