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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Application of bacteriophages

Expert Round Table Participants N , Rustam Aminov A , Jonathan Caplin B , Nina Chanishvili C , Aidan Coffey D , Ian Cooper E , Daniel De Vos F , Jiří Doškař G , Ville-Petri Friman H , İpek Kurtbӧke I , Roman Pantucek J , Jean-Paul Pirnay F , Grégory Resch K , Christine Rohde L , Wilbert Sybesma M and Johannes Wittmann L
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Aberdeen, UK

B School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton, UK

C Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi, Georgia

D Cork Institute of Technology, Department of Biological Sciences, Ireland

E School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Brighton, UK

F Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Brussels, Belgium

G Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Department of Experimental Biology, Brno, Czech Republic

H University of York, Department of Biology, UK

I University of the Sunshine Coast, GeneCology Research Centre and the Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, Qld, Australia

J Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Department of Experimental Biology, Brno, Czech Republic

K University of Lausanne, Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Switzerland

L Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig, Germany

M Nestec Ltd – Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland

N Email: Phage_therapy@pha.ge

Microbiology Australia 38(2) 63-66 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA17029
Published: 11 April 2017

Abstract

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and decrease in the discovery rate of novel antibiotics takes mankind back to the ‘pre-antibiotic era' and search for alternative treatments. Bacteriophages have been one of promising alternative agents which can be utilised for medicinal and biological control purposes in agriculture and related fields. The idea to treat bacterial infections with phages came out of the pioneering work of Félix d‘Hérelle but this was overshadowed by the success of antibiotics. Recent renewed interest in phage therapy is dictated by its advantages most importantly by their specificity against the bacterial targets. This prevents complications such as antibiotic-induced dysbiosis and secondary infections. This article is compiled by the participants of the Expert Round Table conference ‘Bacteriophages as tools for therapy, prophylaxis and diagnostics' (19–21 October 2015) at the Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi, Georgia. The first paper from the Round Table was published in the Biotechnology Journal1. This In Focus article expands from this paper and includes recent developments reported since then by the Expert Round Table participants, including the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol for the applications of bacteriophages.


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