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The road to phage therapy

Nature volume 443, pages 754–755 (2006)Cite this article

Viruses vs. Superbugs: A Solution to the Antibiotics Crisis?

  • Thomas Häusler
Macmillan Science: 2006. 256 pp. £16.99, $24.95 1403987645 | ISBN: 1-403-98764-5

The first evidence for a viral-like agent with antibacterial properties was reported by M. E. Hankin in 1896. Found in the Ganges river in India, it was temperature sensitive, capable of passing through a porcelain filter, and could reduce titres of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae in laboratory culture. Hankin suggested that it might help to decrease the incidence of cholera in people using water from the Ganges.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Sankar Adhya

  2. emeritus at the Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Carl Merril

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  1. Sankar Adhya
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  2. Carl Merril
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Adhya, S., Merril, C. The road to phage therapy. Nature 443, 754–755 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/443754a

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