The Next Phage

How to heal an infection that defies antibiotics? Another infection. Doctors in Eastern Europe have used lab-grown viruses to safely cure millions of wounds. So why can't we do the same here?

By Elizabeth Svoboda Posted 03.31.2009 at 7:11 am 38 Comments

Puncturing Bacteria to Cure a Wound: Once they’ve hijacked a bacterial cell, viruses replicate inside it, producing enzymes that poke holes in the cell wall to kill the bacterium and release more infectious phages Medi-mation

Having observed that lysins were the phages' "active ingredients," Fischetti aims to harvest the lysins from them and turn them into stable antibacterial drugs. If successful, he could accomplish a double feat previously thought impossible: getting the bacteria-fighting benefits of phages to patients, while doing an end run around the regulatory Rube Goldberg machine that researchers like Wolcott face.

Whereas phages must evolve to keep up with bacterial evolution, lysins are like a blunt instrument that can kill entire families of bacteria, eliminating the need to isolate and test thousands of different compounds as phage scientists in Georgia do. But even if the FDA might perceive lysins more favorably than phages alone, Kutter says, the enzymes have drawbacks of their own. Lysins work only on Gram-positive bacteria, like strep and staph, not Gram-negative bacteria like E. coli and salmonella—the Gram-negative bacteria have an outside membrane that the lysins can't get through. Phages, on the other hand, can work against both kinds of bacteria. And unlike traditional phage therapy, lytic enzymes haven't made it to clinical trials yet, so although petri-dish evidence is promising, there's no telling whether it will translate into success in a hospital setting.

Sore Subject: Phage cocktails can be custom-mixed to treat specific wounds John B. Carnett

It's clear that unless the FDA is willing to consider revised approval guidelines, phage therapy in the U.S. will remain in a holding pattern indefinitely. And in Lubbock, Roy Brillon's life has settled into a similar stasis. The phage Wolcott brought back from Georgia healed his leg wound, but since Brillon has problems with the valves that control blood flow in his leg veins, he's constantly developing new sores. "The blood goes down the veins, but it can't go back up," he explains. "The sores shrink and then pop up somewhere else on my leg."

What Brillon really needs, Wolcott says, is a phage cocktail custom-mixed to target the particular bacteria colonizing his wounds. But it's back to the same old antibiotics for now. Sometimes, if the bacteria happen to be non-drug-resistant, the antibiotics work; sometimes they yield about the same results as a newt's-eye potion. Brillon keeps his legs wrapped in Ace bandages like a burn victim. "If you don't keep 'em tight," he says, "then the legs swell, and that's when the sores come out."

But he's not dwelling on the obstacles. Instead he imagines the day when he'll be able to put his infections behind him for good and spend more time fishing and playing with his four grandchildren who live nearby. He figures that if anyone can get him there, it will be Wolcott and his army of phages. "It really bothers him if he gets a hold of something he can't handle," Brillon says. "He tells me, 'I'm never going to give up on you.'"

single page

Previous Article: The Science Behind Unseen Phenomena

Next Article: Cellular Lego Animations

Want to learn more about breakthroughs in electronics, medicine, nanotech, and more?
Subscribe to Popular Science today, for less than $1 per issue!

38 Comments

Subscribe Now

38 Comments

Photo Galleries

Science

Popular on Popsci

Most Commented

Science

Most Emailed

Science

Most Viewed

Science

Today on PopSci.com

Footer Menu