What is Bacteriophage Therapy? Dr. Sabrina Green, Dr. Saima Aslam and Dr. Austen Terwilliger, Part 1

In this video, Dr. Sabrina Green and Dr. Austen Terwilliger discuss the following:

● Bacteriophage, or “phage”, is a virus that is harmful only to bacteria.
● Once inside a bacteria cell, phages multiply and produce an enzyme that damages the bacteria cell wall causing it to implode, or “lyse”. Then, the phage moves onto nearby bacteria of the same type, repeating the process until they no longer have a host and die out.
● Though it’s believed that every bacterial species has an opposing phage, the theory is unproven.
● Phages and bacteria make up an ecosystem within the human body, designed to create balance.
● Bacteriophage therapy uses naturally-occurring viruses as antibacterial agents to treat bacterial infections that people may suffer from.
● Phage therapy studies began in 1919. Modern phage therapy involves taking bacteria from a patient sample and applying small volumes of prepared phage. If small clearings, or plaques, are created, the phage is virulent against the strain.
● Because phages are excreted by animals, they are typically sourced from wastewater or sewage where billions of phage may be present. The phage which opposes the patient’s bacterial strain is identified, then purified and prepared for treatment.
● If a high concentration, purified pre-characterized phage is already prepared and virulent against a patient’s bacterial strain, FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) approval can be sought in around one month.
● If there is no opposing phage in existence, it may take 9-12 months to source and prepare the phage before treatment can commence.
● As it stands, prior to treatment, a phage’s effectiveness in destroying the patient’s bacterial strain is tested in the lab but scientists are working towards a system where this step could be bypassed in the future.
● In the USA, seeking approval from the FDA for phage therapy can be challenging. This is because the FDA was founded to regulate defined chemicals and drugs. Phages do not fit into this category because they are ever-changing, living, biological agents. The hope is that, one day, the FDA will approve these types of treatment by scrutinizing the uniformity of the process by which they are produced.

Check out the playlist for the entire interview:    • Bacteriophage Therapy  

Learn about Fungi, Viruses & Hormones from Dr. Thomas-White here:    • Fungi, Viruses & Hormones: The Scienc...  

Learn more about Phage Therapy For Recurrent UTIs here: https://liveutifree.com/phage-therapy/

Learn about whether it’s safe to treat a UTI without antibiotics here:    • Is It Safe To Treat A UTI Without Ant...  

About Dr. Sabrina Green Ph.D.
Dr. Sabrina Green is a research scientist with almost a decade of training in Microbiology. She is currently the research and development director at TAILΦR, a phage service center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Her passion is bringing awareness to the world of antimicrobial resistance. Also, helping patients dealing with AMR infections.

Austen Terwilliger, Ph.D.
Dr. Terwilliger grew up on a potato farm in central Pennsylvania where he always loved being outside and observing animals and bugs alike. This passion to investigate how living things "worked" developed into a degree in molecular microbiology. His early work was in microbial pathogenesis, which led him to focus on novel antibiotic agents like phage. He now leads a great team of technicians and graduate students in developing novel phage cocktails to treat multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.

Saima Aslam, MD, MS

Dr. Aslam is a Professor of Medicine at the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and is the Director of the Solid Organ Transplant Infectious Diseases service. She has been engaged in phage therapy since 2017 and is the Clinical Lead at the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (IPATH) at UCSD. Dr Aslam heads a Cystic Fibrosis Foundation pilot study to develop a clinical registry of Burkholderia infected patients with CF and an associated bacteriophage library. She is also involved in studies combating multi-drug resistance, transplant-related clinical trials and the use of phage-lysin for Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.

About Live UTI Free
Live UTI Free is a patient advocacy and research organization. We do not endorse specific treatment approaches, clinicians or diagnostics methods. The content of this video does not provide medical advice. It is intended for informational purposes only. The medical and/or nutritional information is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen. https://liveutifree.com/

Post-production: Melissa Wairimu   / kreativlee_