Moon Pie wrote:
] Nanochick wrote:
] *snip*
] ] Moon Pie wrote:
] (1667-1745)
] ] ] So, naturalists observe, a flea
] ] ] Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
] ] ] And these have smaller still to bite 'em;
] ] ] And so proceed ad infinitum.
] ]
] ] Actually, macrophages are cells in our immune system. It is
] ] true that there are viruses that infect bacteria called
] ] bacteriophages, and that there is research going on in using
]
] ] them as a replacement for antibiotics. The interesting thing
]
] ] is that before antibiotics were discovered, there was
] *major*
] ] research going on to see if bacteriophages could be used to
] ] treat bacterial infections. That research mostly dropped off
]
] ] the map when antibiotics came on the scene, but for the past
]
] ] few years, people have started to think think in that
] ] direction again due to antibiotic resistance. As for
] ] macrophages, I haven't heard of research going on in that
] area
] ] as a potential therapy, but if you have any information on
] ] that, I would love a link to it. Sorry...just had to add my
] ] .02 cents in as a biology major:)
]
] Thank you for the correction. I read a print article recently
] about these things, and the reporter used the term
] 'macrophage' for 'bacteriophage', which confused me, but I
] assumed he knew better than me, and one had to sort out what
] kind of 'macrophage' (immune or viral) from context.
] But yeah, research is up and running in Russia at least, with
] some interest internationally. They're isolating
] bacteriophages from sewage. This is highly relevant to me
] since I have a tuberculosis-like infection that takes years of
] antibiotic treatment to eliminate, while the right
] bacteriophage would home right in on those suckers.

http://www.nature.com/nsu/020422/020422-4.html

Interesting... I'm gonna look for phage cream at the Apteka.

RE: The super-bugs have arrived!