December 1, 2022
Paul Turner to present Division of Biology Seminar
Submitted by Division of Biology
Paul Turner, professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University, will present his research, "Phage Therapy to Combat Infections by Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Pathogens," as part of the Division of Biology Seminar Series at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5, via Zoom.
One possible strategy to combat the antibiotic resistance crisis is a renewed approach to "phage therapy," where these administered viruses not only kill the target bacteria but also predictably select for phage resistance that reduces virulence and/or increases antibiotic sensitivity — evolutionary trade-offs. By utilizing virulence factors as receptor binding sites, the phages exert selection for bacteria to evolve phage resistance by modifying — or losing — the virulence factor, potentially reducing bacterial pathogenicity. We present examples of phages that kill target bacteria while selecting for phage resistance that coincides with useful clinical traits, and compare in vitro data to phenotypic, genetic and metagenomics analyses of microbes isolated longitudinally from patient samples before, during and after emergency phage therapy treatments.
If you would like to visit with Turner, please contact Aprajita Tripathi at aprajita@k-state.edu.