New Tool Unlocks Untapped Potential of Phages

A new tool to mutate bacteriophages - viruses that infect bacteria - provides a "big leap" forward in both our understanding of how they function, and our ability to harness their full potential.

Developed by researchers in the University of Otago - Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, New Zealand, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, the method features on the latest cover of prestigious international journal Nature Microbiology.

Senior author Professor Peter Fineran says bacteriophages, or simply phages, have "huge potential" to combat the antimicrobial resistance crisis, and for increasing sustainable agriculture as an alternative to agrochemicals, because they can destroy bacteria.

"But our knowledge of phages is probably like the understanding of antibiotics back in the 1950s. Many phage genes are currently in the area of microbial dark matter - encoding functions we just don't understand - which is limiting our ability to use phages in healthcare and biotechnology.