bacteriophages

It would be helpful to mention that it's essentially an overview of bacteriophages, viruses which target bacteria.

The article in the comment you replied on has a solid theory: it's hard to patent bacteriophages in their natural state, and tailoring bacteriophages to a specific person presents difficulties with the FDA.

Besides that, not all of the cells bacteriophages could harmfully target are human cells.

We also could revive phage therapy which uses bacteriophages (viruses that replicate in bacteria).

I remember hearing about Soviet research into phage therapy, where bacteriophages are cultured to consume particular strains of bacteria.

The problem with bacteriophages is that they require identifying the specific infection, and then identifying a bacteriophage that is suitable for just that infection.

And we have recently heard about bacteriophages interacting with bacteria in our microbiome as well.

I would love to know the current status of using viruses (bacteriophages) to replace antibiotics.

You'll also quickly realize that no matter how well-intentioned your use of bacteriophages is, it is very, very likely to make things worse, not better.

What we need is more research into bacteriophages, viruses that prey exclusively on bacteria, to combat the bacteria we don't want.

I meant it largely to contrast it with bacteriophages, where we don't get the choice.

Yes, bunch of alternatives: - bacteriophages (viruses that kill bacteria) - vitamin C for some bacteria, vitamin D, other supplements like MSM.

Antibiotics "won out" to a large extent because alternatives like bacteriophages are tremendously more expensive and complicated compared to the practice of handing out antibiotics without blood work.

Bacteriophages, while fun, and something I once wanted to work in, are nowhere near as "point and click" efficacious as antibiotics are, even under the most optimistic scenarios.

The mention of the "25 year discovery drought" made me think about this documentary I saw once about bacteriophages ("viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria") [1].

Bacteriophages are very much the answer to the titular problem.

On the topic of Bacteriophages, I seem to recall reading in Biology class a long time ago, that the reason the water of the Ganges can be stored for a long time without getting spoilt is because of the presence of Bacteriophages!