A microscopic reply to diseases
“Attention soldiers. Get your armor ready.”
“Yes sir.”
“Icosahedron helmet ready- collar ready-sheath ready-Tail fibers ready. All check. Good to go.”
These soldiers may prepare for thousands of fights. They may do it at different locations. However they have a common target. Bacteria!
They savor on bacteria and hence the name Bacteriophages (phages in short). These are viruses that look similar to what you saw above. They are the microscopic soldiers I talked about. Its peculiar structure makes it look as if it was made by someone, so it was unthinkable for me to begin without an analogy. In reality you won’t make it to everywhere on Earth to see them because they’re even there in deep marine environments. And even if you were to take it as a challenge, you’ll have to carry microscopes along with you because they’re microscopic soldiers.
We know many viruses. Many studies have been performed on them. They can’t yet be called living or non- living, have a genetic material and a protein coat…and the list goes on. Leave the basics aside. What is the buzz about this particular virus? To be frank, the buzz isn’t about the virus rather it’s about who the virus attacks.
Bacteriophages are highly species specific i.e., each phage attacks only one species of bacteria. Considering the fact that bacteria are microorganisms that cause innumerable diseases to human beings, other animals, and plants make their roles clear. Yes, we ought to transform them as our weapons against deadly bacterial diseases.
Did you know that the infection of a bacterium by a Bacteriophage actually helps the bacterium to reproduce? This is called Transduction. Science is fascinating, isn’t it?
Antibiotics have been our primary weapon against bacteria since Alexander Fleming accidentally found that a fungus could help us kill these deadly organisms. Ever since then, time and time again they’ve come to our rescue. If they are our best opportunity in this fight, then why should we talk about Bacteriophages? To explain this, I'll say in a vague sense that evolution sometimes helps a species to be "good enough" to survive. Accept it or not, each time we use an antibiotic, bacteria are evolving to be resistant against it. During the course of time this loophole will create ‘Superbugs’, which are organisms resistant to all medications.
Humans were always prepared for wars beforehand. Well, at least some of us. This war makes no difference. Testing of our new weapon has been done on the body of a patient who had no hopes left of being cured. Thousands of phages were injected into his body. You would’ve answered a question before even being asked now. It’s about the safety of this procedure. As the phages attack only bacteria, we’re completely on the safer side. How do we confirm? The patient was completely cured. He regained both his health and hopes!
Phages are the most deadly organisms in the world. They outnumber all other organisms clubbed together. Who could be the second deadliest organisms? Clue: Somebody here was always prepared for wars.
Why don’t we roll out this method completely to cure the general public? Hold on. Procedures, procedures and more procedures to follow. Firstly, experiments are to be conducted in large scales to study the effects of phage therapy comprehensively. Secondly, it needs investments from pharmaceutical companies. Thirdly, the approval of FDA. In a manner, FDA has not approved the method yet, so pharmaceutical companies are reluctant to invest and thereby research had come to a standstill. On a brighter note, this has not been the case recently as FDA approved to conduct trials and work has progressed. Cheers!
Before we wind up the article, somebody has a few thanks to deliver. Yep, the good bacteria, those who were killed by antibiotics mercilessly but will be saved once the phages take over, attributed to the species specificity. Any thoughts on its importance?
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