SCOTTISH scientists are part of a team hoping to develop virus-loaded capsules that will target a hospital superbug if swallowed by infected patients.
The researchers from Glasgow University and Leicester University say their work could lead to an alternative to antibiotics to treat Clostridium difficile.
Scientists isolated a family of bacteriophages -viruses that target bacteria -which destroy C diff strains. Laboratory tests show the "phages" are effective against 90% of bugs that cause hospital infections.
Lead scientist Dr Martha Clokie, from the University of Leicester, said: "Ever since the discovery of penicillin, antibiotics have been heralded as the 'silver bullets' of medicine. They have saved countless lives and impacted on the well-being of humanity.
"But less than a century following their discovery, the future impact of antibiotics is dwindling at a pace that no-one anticipated, with more and more bacteria out-smarting and 'out-evolving' these miracle drugs. This has re-energised the search for new treatments."
The work, mainly funded by the Medical Research Council, has been conducted in conjunction with scientists from the University of Glasgow and the US company AmpliPhi Biosciences Corporation.
The goal is to prepare a "cocktail" of C diff phages suitable for patient trials. including establishing production, storage and delivery systems.
Around 40 viruses that target C diff strains have been identified so far. They are the subject of patent applications by the University of Leicester.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article