Bacteriophages (also called 'phages') are the viruses of bacteria. They are believed to be the most common lifeform on the planet with an estimated 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 phage existing at any given moment -- ten million times more than there are stars in the universe!
This HUGE number of phages -- and the corresponding genetic diversity associated with it -- has allowed the use of phages for numerous applications ranging from use in electronic devices to biocontrol in agriculture,
Recently, there has been a lot of interest in using phages to combat the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The use of phages to treat bacterial infections is called, 'phage therapy.' Here at the Center for Phage Biology and Therapy at Yale, we are discovering and characterizing new phage from the environment daily, studying ones with the highest therapeutic potential and eventually deploying them in the clinic!
In short, we follow the traditional drug development pipeline from the environment to the lab bench to hospital bedside all in one research center:
A LOT of research goes into the development of a phage isolated from the environment to its' use in the clinic, from genetic characterization to large studies examining the evolutionary response of bacteria to the phage to the most effective way to get phage to the site of infection. Performing these studies is critical as long-term, safe, efficacious and rational use of phage in the clinic will rely on (and be informed by) these well-developed laboratory experiments.
Samples are collected from around the globe by our network of collaborators. These invaluable samples provide new phage and research opportunities for students worldwide in fields such as ecology, microbology, genetics, clinical laboratory science, medicine, veterinary and agricultural science, etc.
Human (and other!) samples are studied and banked. This biorepository allows researchers the opportunity to work with relevant samples and study the effects of phage therapy in the lab!
Clinical use of phage therapy is happening right now at Yale and hospitals/clinics of collaborators! Following extensive laboratory studies, we release certain phage for clinical use and are conducting clinical trials in addition to our active compassionate use program.