‘Making science work for health’, the PHG Foundation’s podcast, is releasing a new series of episodes. Over the next few weeks you can hear me talk to several of my colleagues about a wide array of topics. For this new series, I’ve also taken it upon myself to reflect on all of these conversations and what my own take-aways have been since recording.
The first podcast of this series was my discussion with Dr Chantal Babb de Villiers on bacteriophages. This has been a topic that I’ve found particularly interesting ever since I first read Chantal’s briefing on phage therapy to treat AMR infections and watching a video she directed me to from Kurzgesagt. These gave me a great understanding of what bacteriophages (otherwise known as phages) are and their potential to be a powerful tool for combating antimicrobial resistance. I was curious as to why phages didn’t get the same initial research interest that antibiotics did, which Chantal was able to explain in our conversation.
Behind the scenes
Not everything we recorded was able to make it to the final edit but as part of our wider conversation we, very briefly, touched upon genetically engineered phages. I originally asked about whether it would be possible to create artificial phages for a specific bacteria. Chantal set out that there are certainly efforts underway to genetically engineer phages so that they can better match, and therefore better fight off, an infection-causing bacteria. The ability to do this would ensure more accurate matches between a phage and a bacteria, as well as ensuring the phage is safe to use.
Phage genomes tend to be easy to modify with genetic engineering techniques as they are small. Other than having direct antimicrobial activity, phages can be easily engineered to carry genes, proteins, or antimicrobial chemicals to enhance their antimicrobial activity. Chantal went on to mention how there were efforts to look at other applications to engineering bacteriophages other than to address antimicrobial resistance.
My takeaways
Before joining the PHG Foundation, my science knowledge barely went beyond my double science GCSE which I got XX years ago. However, my time here has helped me to understand a plethora of areas that I would otherwise be ignorant to if left to my own devices. One of the reasons that I’ve enjoyed hosting the podcast is that these conversations have allowed me to get to grips with the subject matter. It gives me an opportunity to ask questions and get clarification, which the written word doesn’t allow for. I also think the episodes have shown, and will show, my colleagues’ broad knowledge and ability to break things down into manageable chunks.
I’d like to thank Chantal for the resources she shared with me and for sitting with me to discuss phages, and for joining me on the podcast for a second time. Talking about phages with Chantal was fascinating and it will remain an area that I’d like to keep an eye on in the future. In particular I would be interested to see how the UK might approach wider implementation of phage therapy. With antimicrobial resistance being a credible threat, I would be curious to see how we might best use the potential tools at our disposal.
You can listen to this episode and others through our dedicated podcast page or wherever you get your podcasts (please subscribe and give us a rating). If you’re interested in reading additional information about any of the topics raised in the series then you will find many of our outputs on our website. And if you have any further questions about the topics or if you have any comments or suggestions, then you can email us at [email protected].