# Bacteria Hunters (DD-309)

> Bacteriophages are the most abundant biological entities on Earth, discovered independently by Frederick Twort in 1915 and Félix d'Hérelle in 1917. Phage therapy faded in the West with antibiotics but continued in Georgia and Russia, and drug-resistant infections have revived interest in it despite the challenge of matching each phage to a specific strain.

- Department: Science (also Nature)
- First published: 2024-08-26
- Last updated: 2024-08-26
- Permalink: https://detailenjoyer.com/case/bacteria-hunters/
- Original Reel title: Bacteria Hunters 🦠
- Author: Marcus Easterling (DetailEnjoyer), The Detail Department

## Quick facts

- **DD-309-F01**: Phages are viruses of bacteria. _(Write-up · Exhibit A (Outnumbering all life))_
- **DD-309-F02**: They inject genetic material. _(Write-up · Exhibit A (Outnumbering all life))_

## Write-up

Phages are the most numerous biological entities on Earth, yet the idea of using them as medicine was largely sidelined in the West by antibiotics; rising antibiotic resistance is why that century-old idea is back.

1. **Outnumbering all life**: There are an estimated 10^31 bacteriophages on the planet, more than every other organism on Earth, bacteria included, combined.
2. **Discovered twice**: British bacteriologist Frederick Twort described a bacteria-killing agent in 1915, and Félix d'Hérelle at the Pasteur Institute independently announced his discovery on 3 September 1917 and coined the name 'bacteriophage', meaning bacterium-eater.
3. **Kept alive in Georgia**: George Eliava, who met d'Hérelle in Paris, founded the institute in Tbilisi in 1923 that now bears his name, and phages are still used against antibiotic-resistant infections particularly in Russia and Georgia.
4. **Precision is the catch**: Because a phage targets only one or a few bacterial strains, it causes fewer side effects than antibiotics, but finding a phage that matches a given infection is a major practical obstacle.
5. **A modern case**: In 2017 doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London used a cocktail of two engineered phages and one natural phage to treat an antibiotic-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus infection in a young woman with cystic fibrosis.

## Related case files

- [Bacterial Flagellum (DD-559)](https://detailenjoyer.com/case/bacterial-flagellum/): I linked more on bacteria

## Reel vs. record

- **Note**: None needed.

## Video: Bacteria Hunters: Bacteriophages Are Viruses That Only Infect Bacteria

- Duration: 24.7 s · Published: 2024-08-26
- File: https://detailenjoyer.com/assets/videos/C_JsJ7yJxDO.mp4

### Transcript

Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that specifically infect bacteria. They attach to a bacterium, inject their genetic material, and hijack the bacterial machinery to produce new phages. As new phages accumulate, they release enzymes that break down the bacterial cell wall, causing the bacterium to burst and release the new phages. This cycle effectively destroys bacteria from the inside out, making phages a potential tool for antibacterial therapy. NOW YOU KNOW!

## Questions & answers

**Q: What do phages infect?**  
A: Only bacteria. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Outnumbering all life) · Wikipedia: Bacteriophage)_

**Q: What do they inject?**  
A: DNA or RNA. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Outnumbering all life) · Wikipedia: Bacteriophage)_

**Q: What do they hijack?**  
A: To copy themselves. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Outnumbering all life) · Wikipedia: Bacteriophage)_

**Q: How are new phages released?**  
A: Lysis. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit C (Kept alive in Georgia) · Wikipedia: Bacteriophage)_

**Q: What therapy uses them?**  
A: Against bacteria. _(Source: Write-up · Exhibit A (Outnumbering all life) · Wikipedia: Phage therapy)_

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Bacteriophage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage)
- [Wikipedia: Phage therapy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phage_therapy)

## Cite this case file

Easterling, Marcus. "Bacteria Hunters." The Detail Department (DetailEnjoyer), case file DD-309, last updated Aug 26, 2024. https://detailenjoyer.com/case/bacteria-hunters/