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

For decades, bacteriophages have been studied primarily as bacterial predators, but a growing body of work now shows that some of their most sophisticated biological weapons are not the viral particles themselves, but the enzymatic systems they carry on their surface. Among these, phage depolymerases have emerged as one of the most promising tools in modern anti-infective research, especially against encapsulated multidrug-resistant pathogens such as Klebsiella pneumoniae. A new study published in Nature Communications introduces DepoCatalog, the largest experimentally validated collection of recombinant Klebsiella phage depolymerases assembled to date. The project brings together 129 distinct enzymes capable of degrading bacterial capsules across 75 Klebsiella capsule types, providing an unprecedented structural and functional overview of how bacteriophages adapt to the remarkable diversity of bacterial polysaccharides. The Phage Therapy (c) Klebsiella pneumoniae remains one of the m...

For decades, immunologists considered bacterial antiviral defenses and human immune systems to be largely unrelated biological inventions. Bacteria were thought to rely on relatively simple molecular mechanisms to defend themselves against bacteriophages, while complex antiviral immunity in humans and other eukaryotes was assumed to have emerged much later during evolution. A growing body of research is now profoundly reshaping that perspective. According to a major feature published in Science, some of the most important components of human innate immunity may ultimately trace their origins back billions of years to ancient molecular warfare between microbes and bacteriophages. Molecular components of human immunity depicted in this illustration can be traced to some of the antiviral arsenal wielded by bacteria.  RIOKA HAYAMA  ©   2026 American Association for the Advancement of Science. The discovery emerged gradually as researchers began uncovering an enormous diversit...

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...

Bacteria and bacteriophages have spent billions of years locked in a relentless evolutionary conflict. Every new viral strategy eventually drives the emergence of a countermeasure, leading to an extraordinary diversity of bacterial defense systems. While CRISPR-Cas and restriction-modification mechanisms remain the most widely recognized antiviral tools in prokaryotes, recent discoveries continue to reveal increasingly sophisticated molecular defenses hidden within bacterial genomes. Among the newest and most intriguing systems is QatABCD, a four-component anti-phage complex whose molecular architecture appears unlike anything previously described. The Phage Therapy A recent structural investigation has now provided the first detailed insights into how the QatABCD system may function at the molecular level. The work focused primarily on two proteins, QatB and QatC, which appear to form the functional core of this defense mechanism. Together, the findings suggest that QatABCD may rely o...

Bacteriophages have always represented a major challenge for the dairy industry. In fermentation systems relying on Streptococcus thermophilus, virulent phages can rapidly infect bacterial starter cultures, disrupt acidification, and compromise the production of yogurt and cheese. Despite decades of research on bacterial antiviral defenses, scientists are still uncovering previously unknown mechanisms shaping the constant evolutionary conflict between bacteria and phages. A recent study now suggests that phage satellites, long considered relatively obscure mobile genetic elements, may play a far more important role in bacterial immunity than previously understood. The Phage Therapy Researchers have discovered that most Streptococcus thermophilus strains contain mobile chromosomal islands known as StCIs, or Streptococcus thermophilus chromosomal islands. These elements belong to the broader family of phage satellites, genetic elements that cannot produce viral particles independently b...