As a scientist, describe the main experiment you would like to see performed before phage therapy is approved for human use. What are the risks involved with using phage therapy? 

The Forgotten Cure discusses about many experiments that have been conducted by GangaGen and Intralytix to test the effectiveness of phages. One of such experiment pertains about salmonella which was tested using chicks by Perdue, a large poultry producer, and Intralytix. To ensure that the food was free of bacteria, antibiotics were registered to the chickens, but the FDA banned the production of many antibiotics such as fluoroquinolones and Baytril. To test if bacteriophages would serve as a better alternative to antibiotics, Perdue decided to test salmonella in chickens, since it produced a greater effect on humans compared to chickens. The procedure was conducted by spraying and injecting phages onto and into the chick eggs on the 17th day, when the immune system is developed and working. At the same time medicine was injected into the chick’s egg. Vaccinations were also provided to the chicks after they were born and sprayed with phages one more time. As a scientist, I would like to see the results of this experiment, but also, I would like to see phage therapy used in treating Staphylococcus aureus. As mentioned in The Forgotten Cure, “staph aureus is highly virulent, and can infect patients who are completely healthy,” (89). Staph aureus is known to cause infections, and boils, but if it enters the bloodstream can even cause an infection to the heart- valve. Maybe a concoction of phages or phages and vaccines, as used in the experiment about salmonella, could help treat staph aureus.  

Even though phage therapy seems to be a possible alternative, there are many risks that come with it. Phage therapy could potentially be harmful if the bacteria releases toxins into the body which could lead to septic shock. Phages can switch from being lytic to lysogenic and cause a potential risk to the body. If the phage turns to be lysogenic, it can alter the bacteria’s genes and can possibly create a pathogenic bacterium. Also, there could be some doubts from the public and there could be various reactions knowing that they are being injected with phages. When viruses were added onto food, people tend to be scared about the thought of viruses in the food they eat , since people would usually avoid viruses and bacteria. The FDA could also provide risks for phage therapy especially humans, since the process to attain anything is very long, and requires a lot of clinical work. Many tests must be done on animals then humans and then shown to the FDA for approval. Even if approval is achieved, sufficient funding is required to be able to proceed and implement phage therapy, experienced by Intralytix after the British Company stopped funding them.