Natural virus predators offer potential alternative to antibiotics

Researchers at the University of Sydney, Western Sydney Local Health District and the Westmead Institute for Medical Research are developing a therapeutic solution to antimicrobial resistance that predates the discovery and wide usage of antibiotics.

Professor Jon Iredell from the Faculty of Medicine and Health and his team at Phage Australia, are harnessing the natural virus predators of bacteria, called bacteriophages or phages that are found everywhere in nature. In fact, they are the most abundant and diverse life form on Earth.