Phage therapy has distinct differences and advantages compared to antibiotics. Bacteriophages target and kill only a single, specific bacterial strain, whereas antibiotics can kill both the target pathogen and beneficial bacteria of the normal microbiota. Additionally, the development of new antibiotics is costly for pharmaceutical companies and patients, particularly in regions with high poverty rates, whereas bacteriophages can offer a more target-specific alternative.

Comparison of Phage Therapy and Antibiotics

Phage therapy is a clinical procedure that uses bacteria-killing viruses (bacteriophages) to treat bacterial infections. First introduced in 1915 by Frederick Twort, this therapy was largely abandoned after the discovery of antibiotics, but interest has re-emerged due to the increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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The field of Microbiology impacts society in many positive ways including the discovery and development of antimicrobials,  the use of bioremediation to clean the environment, phage therapy, food production, vaccine development, and genetic engineering.

Microbiology Contributions and it's Impact on Society

A virus that can infect one or more species of bacteria. 

Bacteriophage

https://openstax.org/details/books/microbiology/

Microbiology covers the scope and sequence requirements for a single-semester microbiology course for non-majors. The book presents the core concepts of microbiology with a focus on applications for careers in allied health. The pedagogical features of the text make the material interesting and accessible while maintaining the career-application focus and scientific rigor inherent in the subject matter. Microbiology’s art program enhances students’ understanding of concepts through clear and effective illustrations, diagrams, and photographs.

Microbiology is produced through a collaborative publishing agreement between OpenStax and the American Society for Microbiology Press. The book aligns with the curriculum guidelines of the American Society for Microbiology.

OpenStax Microbiology Textbook

Microbiology led to vaccine development that provide cures to a variety of viral pathogens. The use of vaccine development has improved so well in which several of vaccines have gotten approved such as the COVID-19 vaccine and having the ability to target different pathogens all at once. 

Vaccine Development

Microbiology had an impact on society through its contribution of genetic engineering which involves the use of recombinant DNA technology within a laboratory settin creating recombinant DNA molecules that have new combinations of genetic material which paved the way for DNA technology advances in medicine.

Genetic engineering

Antimicrobials have been around for centuries and are known one of the main methods in modern society. Antimicrobial can be found in plants and molds which can be used to treat a variety of diseases for medical purposes. The development of antimicrobials led to antimicrobial drugs such as penicillin. 

Development of Antimicrobials

Bioremediation is the process of using microbial metabolism to degrade or remove toxic chemicals and pollutants from contaminated environments, such as water and soil.

Bioremediation

Microbiology impacted society through food and beverage production such as beer, wine, bread, yogurt, cheese, and pickled vegetables through the use of fermentation to enhance the taste and preserve the goods longer. 

Food and Beverage Production

Phage Therapy

Viral transduction is a process of horizontal gene transfer where a bacteriophage transfers DNA from one host bacterium to another during sequential infections. This asexual exchange of genetic information can result in DNA recombination, potentially introducing new genes, such as sugar-metabolizing or antibiotic-resistance genes, to the recipient bacteria, and playing a key role in bacterial evolution.

Viral Transduction

Bacteriophages can be used as an antimicrobial treatment to prevent food spoilage. For example, a spray solution containing six bacteriophages is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to target and kill *Listeria monocytogenes*, the bacterial pathogen responsible for causing listeriosis in lunch meats.

Bacteriophages in Food Preservation

A virulent phage is a bacteriophage that replication leads typically to the destruction and death of the host bacterial cell through lysis.

Virulent Phage

A temperate phage is a bacteriophage that can integrate its genome into the host cell's chromosome, replicating along with the host cell until induction triggers it to assemble new progeny viruses.

Temperate Phage

Phage typing is a method of identifying specific bacterial strains or subspecies by exploiting the narrow host range of bacteriophages, which only infect specific bacteria.

Phage Typing

Bacteriophage replication can proceed through two main pathways: the lytic cycle, which involves replicating viral parts, assembling them into virions, and lysing the host cell to release them; and the lysogenic cycle, where the viral DNA integrates into the host chromosome as a prophage and replicates alongside it, potentially excising itself to enter the lytic cycle under stress.

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