Name of Event: Nerd Night Welcome Week 2021
Date of Presentation: 09/16/2021
Location of Presentation: Drexel University Welcome Week Virtual
Type of Presentation: Virtual powerpoint
Title: Phage Therapy in Combatting Antibiotic Resistance
Abstract: An alternative method to using antibiotics to treating virulent diseases is the use of phage therapy. The diversity, versatility and specificity of phages shows that they are viable and effective alternatives to antibiotics since isolating exact antibiotics, that are efficient at destroying bacteria, is becoming increasingly more difficult (Lin, D., et. al., 2017). Phage therapy has also evolved and proven to be even more specific and useful in combating virulent diseases with bio-engineered phages and purified phage lytic proteins. So, selecting new phages against phage resistant bacteria would be more efficient and effective than choosing new antibiotics for antibiotic resistant strains. More importantly, lytic phages cause the infected bacteria to be entirely dysfunctional and prevent it from infecting other organisms. This allows the phage to eliminate the entire population of infectious bacteria present, as compared to antibiotics that leave a few fit, resistant strains of bacteria present to cause future infection. Unique morphological traits will be selected to observe the phage lysis vs antibiotic lysis.
Date of Presentation: 09/16/2021
Location of Presentation: Drexel University Welcome Week Virtual
Type of Presentation: Virtual powerpoint
Title: Phage Therapy in Combatting Antibiotic Resistance
Abstract: An alternative method to using antibiotics to treating virulent diseases is the use of phage therapy. The diversity, versatility and specificity of phages shows that they are viable and effective alternatives to antibiotics since isolating exact antibiotics, that are efficient at destroying bacteria, is becoming increasingly more difficult (Lin, D., et. al., 2017). Phage therapy has also evolved and proven to be even more specific and useful in combating virulent diseases with bio-engineered phages and purified phage lytic proteins. So, selecting new phages against phage resistant bacteria would be more efficient and effective than choosing new antibiotics for antibiotic resistant strains. More importantly, lytic phages cause the infected bacteria to be entirely dysfunctional and prevent it from infecting other organisms. This allows the phage to eliminate the entire population of infectious bacteria present, as compared to antibiotics that leave a few fit, resistant strains of bacteria present to cause future infection. Unique morphological traits will be selected to observe the phage lysis vs antibiotic lysis.