The Forgotten Cure [recurso electrónico] : the Past and Future of Phage Therapy

This book fills a void. Never before has a comprehensive history of phage therapy, a once-neglected, now resurgent field, been written. Kuchment writes from the perspective of the eager student of history for the common reader "Bacteriophages have the potential to stop many if not most life threatening, drug resistant bacterial infections. The Forgotten Cure is a non-stop, cover to cover read." James D. Watson, Nobel Laureate "A lively tale of killer viruses, superbugs and a magical cure that has all the twists of a cold-war spy novel."--George Hackett, Newsweek magazine "A marvelous, jargon-free historical account of the genesis, the ups-and-downs, and the current renaissance of phage therapy. The Forgotten Cure ranks at the level of Judsons Eighth Day of Creation." Sankar AdhyaNational Institutes of HealthThe Forgotten Cure: How a Long Lost Treatment Can Save Lives in the 21st Century Before the arrival of penicillin in the 1940s, phage therapy was one of the few weapons doctors had against bacterial infections. It saved the life of Hollywood legends Tom Mix and Elizabeth Taylor before being abandoned by Western science. Now, researchers and physicians are rediscovering the treatment, which pits phage viruses against their natural bacterial hosts, as a potential weapon against antibiotic-resistant infections."The Forgotten Cure" traces the story of phages from Paris, where they were discovered in 1917; to Tbilisi, Georgia, where one of phage therapys earliest proponents died at the hands of Stalin; to the Nobel podium, where prominent scientists have been recognized for breakthroughs stemming from phage research. Today, a crop of biotech startups and dedicated physicians is racing to win regulatory approval for phage therapy before superbugs exhaust the last drug in the medical arsenal. Will they clear the hurdles in time? "Bacteriophages have the potential to stop many if not most life threatening, drug resistant bacterial infections. The Forgotten Cure is a non-stop, cover to cover read." James D. Watson, Nobel Laureate "A lively tale of killer viruses, superbugs and a magical cure that has all the twists of a cold-war spy novel."--George Hackett, Newsweek magazine "A marvelous, jargon-free historical account of the genesis, the ups-and-downs, and the current renaissance of phage therapy. The Forgotten Cure ranks at the level of Judson's Eighth Day of Creation." Sankar Adhya National Institutes of Health The Forgotten Cure: How a Long Lost Treatment Can Save Lives in the 21st Century Before the arrival of penicillin in the 1940s, phage therapy was one of the few weapons doctors had against bacterial infections. It saved the life of Hollywood legend Tom Mix before being abandoned by Western science. Now, researchers and physicians are rediscovering the treatment, which pits phage viruses against their natural bacterial hosts, as a potential weapon against antibiotic-resistant infections. The Forgotten Cure traces the story of phages from Paris, where they were discovered in 1917; to Tbilisi, Georgia, where one of phage therapy's earliest proponents died at the hands of Stalin; to the Nobel podium, where prominent scientists have been recognized for breakthroughs stemming from phage research. Today, a crop of biotech startups and dedicated physicians is racing to win regulatory approval for phage therapy before superbugs exhaust the last drug in the medical arsenal. Will they clear the hurdles in time? Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Helpful Little Bodies....Pages 1-22 Inside Stalin’s Empire....Pages 23-34 The Fading of Phage Therapy....Pages 35-42 Naked Genes....Pages 43-51 ‘They’re Not a Panacea:’ Phage Therapy in the Soviet Union and Georgia....Pages 53-62 In Poland: Phages for Diabetes?....Pages 63-70 The Renaissance of Phage Therapy....Pages 71-76 The Startups....Pages 77-85 Four Companies, Four Strategies....Pages 87-99 Cows and Chickens....Pages 101-108 Approval, At Last....Pages 109-113 In Treatment....Pages 115-118 Back Matter....Pages 119-131 1. Helpful Little Bodies -- 2. Inside Stalin's Empire -- 3. The Fading Of Phage Therapy -- 4. Naked Genes -- 5. 'they're Not A Panacea:' Phage Therapy In The Soviet Union And Georgia -- 6. In Poland: Phages For Diabetes -- 7. The Renaissance Of Page Therapy -- 8. The Startups -- 9. Four Companies, Four Strategies -- 10. Cows And Chickens. Anna Kuchment. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.