Reinventing the fight against bacteria,
one phage at a time.

As antimicrobial resistance continues to threaten healthcare systems worldwide, researchers at Near East University are advancing the development of bacteriophage-based therapies targeting multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. The university recently announced the isolation of a third therapeutic bacteriophage, named NEU2025, representing another major step in the institution’s expanding phage therapy program. Dr Ferdiye Taner, neu.edu.tr The newly identified phage was isolated through a collaboration between Near East University and La Trobe University in Australia. Genome analysis classified NEU2025 within the Pbunavirus group, a family of lytic bacteriophages known for infecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa, one of the most clinically problematic opportunistic pathogens associated with hospital-acquired infections and antibiotic resistance. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is particularly concerning because of its remarkable ability to develop multidrug resistance through mechanisms such ...

As bacteriophages and bacteria continue their evolutionary arms race, researchers are uncovering increasingly sophisticated defense strategies used by microbial cells to survive viral infection. A new study published in Nature Communications reveals how a bacterial anti-phage defense system known as Hna can be directly activated by proteins encoded by invading phages, triggering a destructive immune response based on uncontrolled DNA degradation. The Phage Therapy The work, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, provides one of the clearest mechanistic descriptions to date of how abortive infection systems function at the molecular level. Unlike classical bacterial immune systems such as CRISPR-Cas or restriction-modification complexes, abortive infection systems do not necessarily aim to save the infected bacterium itself. Instead, they sacrifice the infected cell to prevent viral replication and protect the surrounding bacterial population. The Hna system, or...

As antibiotic resistance continues to challenge healthcare systems worldwide, Switzerland is increasingly re-evaluating the role bacteriophage therapy could play in the treatment of difficult bacterial infections. On May 30, 2026, researchers, physicians, regulators, biotechnology companies, and patient advocates will gather in Lausanne for the Forum Phagothérapie, a public event dedicated to the scientific, clinical, and regulatory future of phage therapy in Switzerland. Register here :  https://phagenforum.ch/fr/events/ Phagen Forum © The event comes at a time when multidrug-resistant infections are becoming increasingly difficult to manage with conventional antibiotics alone. Although antibiotics remain one of the most important tools in modern medicine, bacterial resistance continues to accelerate across hospitals and community healthcare systems. In Switzerland, as in many other countries, some patients suffering from chronic or recurrent infections are running out of eff...