Bacteriophages: The good viruses Martha Clokie
Event details
In an era of increasing antimicrobial resistance, we desperately need new ways to tackle infectious diseases. Bacteriophage (viruses) are natural bacterial enemies that can be used to medicate diseases that are otherwise difficult to treat.
For the last 20 years microbiologist Martha Clokie of the University of Leicester has pioneered research on bacteriophage therapy. The majority of us would assume a virus is something that can harm us, such as coronavirus or ebola - however these trillions of viruses, derived from places like our oceans, mud or even excrement, attack strains of bacteria that harm us.
This event is part of a series of talks on antimicrobial resistance presented by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society.
Find out more about the Yorkshire Philosophical Society.
About the speaker
Martha Clokie is a Professor of Microbiology at the University of Leicester, UK. Her research investigates the identification and development of bacteriophages that kill pathogens in an effort to develop new antimicrobials. Her work investigating alternative treatments for Clostridium difficile (C. diff), a bacteria that can infect the bowel and cause diarrhoea, has identified a large set of phages that effectively kill this pathogen. Working with an industrial partner, Enbiotix, this treatment is now being developed into a therapeutic. Martha is now applying the same principles to look at other debilitating diseases. She is determining the impact of phages on bacteria in the gut, investigating how phages can be used to target Lyme disease, and developing phages to target Salmonella in animals. The end goal is to use these phages to formulate new antimicrobials that will kill these infections once and for all.
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