The Future of "Antibiotics"

Bacteriophages, from Ely, 2025

Ever since their invention in the twentieth century, antibiotics have been the primary defense in Western medicine. But although they’ve saved millions of lives, they have their limitations, due to  evolution. Even though antibiotics kill bacteria in your body, the biodiversity of the organisms means that some bacteria will survive, due to having traits that can counter antibiotics. These resilient bacteria then reproduce, leading to more of them being able to survive antibiotics. This process continues until antibiotics stop helping, and new ones must be made. The world may be entering a post-antibiotic era, so humanity needs to find new solutions to disease. Luckily, there’s a prior-overlooked treatment that has potential: phage therapy.

How Were They Overlooked?

In basic terms, bacteriophages are viruses that naturally prey on bacteria. They were discovered independently by Frederick Twort and Felix d’Herelle in the 1910s. d’Herelle used them to cure four people of dysentery, and stopped a cholera epidemic in India. Even though phages became commonplace in the US, Western Europe, and the Soviet Union, clinical studies on phages were mixed on their safety and usefulness. Their rejection was deemed absolute when antibiotics emerged, and phage therapy was dismissed as unnecessary. Nonetheless, researchers have lately realized the potential it has in the face of antibiotic limitations.

How Do They Work?

Once again, phages are viruses that naturally target bacteria. When they find bacteria, the phages infect them and reproduce within. This eventually kills the bacteria, just like what regular viruses do to human cells. After they enter the bacterial cell, their actions classify them into 2 types: lytic or lysogenic. Lytic phages attach themselves to the bacterium’s sensory tools, and inject their DNA to make the bacterium start producing more phages. The phages ultimately break down the bacterium’s cell wall, killing it and releasing more phages. Lysogenic phages do this as well, but they’re more subtle, not killing the bacterium ASAP. Due to their efficiency, lytic phages are more useful in fighting disease.

Phage Therapy Today

Unlike antibiotic resistance, phage resistance is not nearly as big of a problem. While bacteria can evolve to resist phages, phages can evolve to keep killing disease-causing bacteria. In addition, they can also be used to fight infection in wounds. Bacteria tend to form communities called biofilms, where they’re all connected and help each other survive. However, phages have been found to penetrate these films, killing the bacteria and keeping wounds clean. 

Today, phage therapy is used in disease and has potential in agriculture. It’s already been used to treat strep throat, pneumonia, and other especially resistant bacteria. Cocktails (multiple phage species in one dose) are effective in fighting complex disease specific to individuals, increasing the chance of success in defeating the disease.. It also could help fight bacteria specific to plants, increasing the effectiveness of agriculture. However, phage therapy hasn’t been extensively researched yet, so widespread usage in medicine isn’t currently possible. With all points said, phage therapy has immense potential as a primary way to fight disease in the face of failing antibiotics. With researchers exploring the science and potential applications of phages, it may very well be commonly used in the future.

References

Abedi, A. O., Abedi, A. A., Ferry, T., & Citak, M. (2025). Current Applications and the Future of Phage Therapy for Periprosthetic Joint Infections. Antibiotics, 14(6), 581–581. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14060581

Ely, I. (2025, March 27). The Hidden World of Bacteriophages: Viruses That Shape Our Health. Immunology & Microbiology from Technology Networks; Technology Networks. https://www.technologynetworks.com/immunology/articles/the-hidden-world-of-bacteriophages-viruses-that-shape-our-health-397709

‌Kim, M. K., Suh, G. A., Cullen, G. D., Rodriguez, S. P., Tejas Dharmaraj, Hong, T., Li, Z., Chen, Q., Green, S. I., Lavigne, R., Jean-Paul Pirnay, Bollyky, P. L., & Sacher, J. C. (2025). Bacteriophage therapy for multidrug-resistant infections: current technologies and therapeutic approaches. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 135(5). https://doi.org/10.1172/jci187996

‌Keen, E. C. (2012). Phage Therapy: Concept to Cure. Frontiers in Microbiology, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00238

‌Kapoor, A., Mudaliar, S. B., Bhat, V. G., Chakraborty, I., Srinivas, A., & Mazumder, N. (2024). Phage therapy: A novel approach against multidrug-resistant pathogens. 3 Biotech, 14(10). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-024-04101-8