Our goal for this project was to find out as much information about our specific isolated phage as we could in hopes of helping future researchers in their discovery of phage use with specific bacteria. The more information about the phage such as its cluster and sub-cluster, the easier it is for researchers to target phage that interact with specific bacteria.
Phages could cause a better treatment outcome for patients because of the ability to localizingly treat cancerous cells and leave healthy cells intact. By tagging phages to attach to specific cells and modifying them to glow, doctors can for example under fluorescent light in surgery identify areas of diseased cells and remove the proper amount without damaging healthy cells. Though, more options for this kind of treatment can be used such as genetically modifying them to kill those cells.
The main limitations to phage therapy are FDA approval and side effect research. The FDA sparingly approves phage therapy treatments, usually only in severe last-resort cases due to a lack in human research. The side effects of phage therapy is also a large unknown because the products of phage lysing bacteria inside humans could lead to a worse outcome for the patient than the benefit of killing the bacteria.
The main limitations to phage therapy include FDA approval and research into the side effects. The FDA sparingly approves treatment using phage, usually only as a last resort due to the lack in human research with this therapy. As a result, the side effects of this therapy are largely unknown because the result of this phage lysing bacteria (byproduct) in humans has not been researched enough.
Phage could be genetically modified to detect something like proteins in cancerous cells and attach to them in a similar way they detect and attach to bacteria.
Was this outcome what you were excepting? Does this data go along with you hypothesis?
Our goal for this project was to find out as much information about our specific isolated phage as we could in hopes of helping future researchers in their discovery of phage use with specific bacteria. The more information about the phage such as its cluster and sub-cluster, the easier it is for researchers to target phage that interact with specific bacteria.
How do phages help create a better treatment option/outcome for cancer patients?
Phages could cause a better treatment outcome for patients because of the ability to localizingly treat cancerous cells and leave healthy cells intact. By tagging phages to attach to specific cells and modifying them to glow, doctors can for example under fluorescent light in surgery identify areas of diseased cells and remove the proper amount without damaging healthy cells. Though, more options for this kind of treatment can be used such as genetically modifying them to kill those cells.
what are the limitations of phage therapy?
The main limitations to phage therapy are FDA approval and side effect research. The FDA sparingly approves phage therapy treatments, usually only in severe last-resort cases due to a lack in human research. The side effects of phage therapy is also a large unknown because the products of phage lysing bacteria inside humans could lead to a worse outcome for the patient than the benefit of killing the bacteria.
The main limitations to phage therapy include FDA approval and research into the side effects. The FDA sparingly approves treatment using phage, usually only as a last resort due to the lack in human research with this therapy. As a result, the side effects of this therapy are largely unknown because the result of this phage lysing bacteria (byproduct) in humans has not been researched enough.
Great job! Would you happen to know how phage can detect cancerous cells? I thought phage focused more on infecting bacteria.
Phage could be genetically modified to detect something like proteins in cancerous cells and attach to them in a similar way they detect and attach to bacteria.