1. 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?

As a scientist, I would like to see an experiment looking at the effect of endotoxins released from bacteria as a result of phage therapy usage and as a result the potential for septic shock to occur in a patient. As The Forgotten Cure states that phage therapy can act rapidly, something that was described by d’Herelle when he saw the rapid curing of dysentery patients during the first world war. Ramachandran additionally stated that this endotoxin release is a perceived limitation of phage therapy, as the threat of septic shock is not one to be trifled with.  In addition to endotoxins, allergic reactions to the phages and other aspects of the lysate solution would also have to be looked at in order to ensure its safety. But overall the threat of endotoxins and septic from the rapidly killed bacteria is what concerns me most as a scientist, thus I believe there should be several trials in order to ascertain the effect of relatively mass endotoxin release, of various types, on the body. This could potentially be done by injecting endotoxins into animals at an expected level of what would be released, or by infecting animals with bacterial diseases and then curing them with phage therapy and observing the effect of endotoxins that way. However, there is a way to mitigate, maybe even eliminate, the threat of septic shock as a result of phage therapy use. As Ramachandran determined that by blocking the endolysin gene in bacteria, toxins could not be released from the bacteria since it would not have the ability to lyse. The blocking of the endolysin gene also has the added bonus of limiting horizontal gene transfer between phages and bacteria as well as certain commercial benefits. Overall there is always a risk when foreign contaminants enter the body, either from the phage therapy itself or the byproduct of the phage therapy fulfilling its purpose. However, with appropriate testing and the blocking of the endolysin gene the threat of septic shock should be mitigated, making phage therapy much safer humans, thus encouraging its approval by governing bodies like the FDA.