Bactriophage therapy

[Write4U]

Correction: OP Title should read Bacteriophage Therapy (sloppy..)

Does anyone have any new information about phage therapy and if they can be employed against other viruses.

Phage therapy: An alternative to antibiotics in the age of multi-drug resistance

Abstract

The practice of phage therapy, which uses bacterial viruses (phages) to treat bacterial infections, has been around for almost a century. The universal decline in the effectiveness of antibiotics has generated renewed interest in revisiting this practice.

Conventionally, phage therapy relies on the use of naturally-occurring phages to infect and lyse bacteria at the site of infection. Biotechnological advances have further expanded the repertoire of potential phage therapeutics to include novel strategies using bioengineered phages and purified phage lytic proteins.

Current research on the use of phages and their lytic proteins, specifically against multidrug-resistant bacterial infections, suggests phage therapy has the potential to be used as either an alternative or a supplement to antibiotic treatments.

Antibacterial therapies, whether phage- or antibiotic-based, each have relative advantages and disadvantages; accordingly, many considerations must be taken into account when designing novel therapeutic approaches for preventing and treating bacterial infections. Although much is still unknown about the interactions between phage, bacteria, and human host, the time to take phage therapy seriously seems to be rapidly approaching.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5547374/

The Deadliest Being on Planet Earth – The Bacteriophage

Can they be designed against other viruses?

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

Does anyone have any new information about phage therapy and if they can be employed against other viruses.

“Other” viruses? I think you’re getting a little confused. They don’t work against any viruses. Bacteriophage are viruses. They use bacteria as hosts.

 

[Write4U]

“Other” viruses? I think you’re getting a little confused. They don’t work against any viruses. Bacteriophage are viruses. They use bacteria as hosts.

Not so fast, I did a little checking and apparently there are "virophages" which prey on larger viruses.

Virophages are small, double-stranded DNA viral phages that require the co-infection of another virus. The co-infecting viruses are typically giant viruses. Virophages rely on the viral replication factory of the co-infecting giant virus for their own replication.

i.e. piggy-back viruses.
Virophage

Sputnik virophage

One of the characteristics of virophages is that they have a parasitic relationship with the co-infecting virus. Their dependence upon the giant virus for replication often results in the deactivation of the giant viruses. The virophage may improve the recovery and survival of the host organism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virophage#

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

Oh, okay. You did specifically mention bacteriophage, so we'll call it a tie.