I can think of three reasons phage have not been used for controlling
bacteria in the clinic.
1. By the time you have isolated the phage and shown it to be safe
bacteria that are resistant to it will already be present in the
population.
2. The host range of many phage is very narrow so it is likely to be
effective against a narrow spectrum of bacteria and only useful for
digestive track ailments.
3 It is very cheap to make phage. One could easily make enough phage
in a lab to supply the world wide needs. It also may not be possible to
obtain exclusive rights for its use so it may not be that profitable.
It is however an interesting idea.
Hope this helps you better understand the problems that are likely to
arise when using phage to treat disease.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Doug Pecota
University of California Irvine
pecota at eng.uci.edu
It isn't just what you know,
nor even who you know,
but also what you know
that isn't so.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Wed, 17 Dec 1997, mark wrote:
> Andrew Louka wrote:
> >
> > I watched a TV documentary in the UK ("Horizon") recently about the use
> > of bacteriophage in the fight against bacteria. .,snip/.
> > I understand that there is a chap in the UK who is working on this.
> > Any thoughts?
>> > Andrew
> >
> > On 16 Dec 1997, Ralph L. Samson wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Readers,
> > > From my readings, considerable research was done in the 50's and
> > > early 60's on Vitamin A (Retinol) and the proper functioning of the mucous
> > > membranes..,snip.,
>> I like the phage story and if someone in the UK is working on it then it
> must be 'out' so to speak. It seem on its face to be a reasonable
> approach and one that companies can make money with. I remember reading
> something about this awhile back as well. I don't know about retinol but
> I do take my vitamins!
> happy holidays!markH
>>
