A solution to the postantibiotic era: phages as precision medicine

Abstract

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections pose a significant global health challenge. Phage therapy provides a promising alternative to antibiotics that enables the specific targeting of pathogenic bacteria while preserving the healthy microbiome. Recent advances in genetic engineering, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence have rekindled interest in phage therapy, as they move phages into the realm of precision medicine. Engineered phages can be customized to have a broader host range, encode counter-defenses that overcome bacterial immune systems, or express other proteins that modulate the bacterial host to their advantage. Innovations in artificial intelligence and machine learning promise to speed up the identification of optimal phage candidates and create tailored cocktails for individualized therapies — advances that will transform phage therapy and provide a solution to the antibiotic resistance crisis.