42 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019
thosewithcysticfibrosis,butisnot
harmfulinhealthypeople.“Weestimate
manyofthesephagescaneitheralready
killM.tuberculosisorcanbeeasily
evolvedtodothis.”
Thetechnologyisalsobeingusedin
thefightagainstthehoney-beepatho-
gen,Americanfoulbrood.Beekeepers
aroundthecountryaresendingsoil
samplesfromundertheirhivestothe
Masseyteaminthehopethescientists
canfindbacteriophagesthatmaybe
abletoprotectthebees.“Ifyouput
theminhives,andtheinfectiousor-
ganismshowsup,theymightmeanthe
infectionneverdevelopsbecausethe
phageswillkillthepathogenbeforeit
getstothebees.”
About20kmsouthofHendrickson’s
lab,attheUniversityofAuckland,micro-
biologistSiouxsieWilesisalsoonthe
huntfornewweaponsagainstbacteria,
thistimefromfungi,theplantthatinthe
1940sgaveustheworld’sfirstmass-pro-
ducedantibiotic:penicillin.Wileswrote
the short bookAntibiotic Resistance:Therearelikelytwoissueswiththe
clinicaluseofphages,shesays.Oneis
thatwhenphagesdestroybacteria,toxic
partsofthebacterialcellwallcanbreak
looseandcausemoreharm.Afocusof
researcheffortshasbeenoncleaningup
celldebrisfromso-called“phagecock-
tails”giventopatients.
Theotherissueis thatphagesarevery
specifictothebacteriatheydestroy,so
a patient’sbacterianeedstobetested
againsta global“library”ofphages.
“Youcantrya hundreddifferentbacte-
riophagesagainsta singlebacteriaand
theymightnotwork.”
Hendrickson’sstudentsarepartofan
undergraduatetrainingprogrammeat
Massey,whichisaffiliatedtotheUS-
based HowardHughesMedical
Institute’sScienceEducationAlliance.
She sayshersix studentshave
discoveredbacteriophagesthatareable
tokillMycobacteriumsmegmatis, a
cousinofthebacteriathatcauses
tuberculosis,andwhichcantriggerlung
diseases in vulnerable people such assuperbugs.Phagesareinandonus,and
alsointheenvironmentaroundus.They
havebeenisolatedfromsoil,compost
binsandgardens– evenanabandoned
doorinthemiddleofa field.“Phagesare
10 timesmorenumerousthanbacteria,”
saysHendrickson.“Weco-evolvedwith
bacteriophagesandweareconstantly
consumingthem.Somesitinthemucins
inournoseandaswebreatheinbacteria,
theyamplifyanddestroysomeofthose.”
Phagesalsohavea roleinfightingoff
infectionsnormally,butsometimesthere
mightnotbetherightphagesintheright
placetopreventthem.
Althoughphagetherapywasdiscov-
eredabouta centuryago,antibiotics
weremucheasiertouseandbacterio-
phageswerelargelyforgotten– until
recently.“Nowthatwearerunningout
ofantibiotics,peoplearereturning,
andsayingthereissomethingherewe
shouldbeconsideringmorecarefully.
Thereisstilla hugeamounttolearnin
thisfield,butI thinkthey could be of
major importance.”
ScientistandMasseyUniversityseniorlecturerHeatherHendrickson(seated)andherphage-huntingundergraduateand
PhD students (from left): Jo Turnbull, Richard Yulo, Courtney Davies, Danielle Kok, Farhad Golzar and Cody Gilligan.
PHAGESAREVERYSPECIFICTOTHEBACTERIATHEYDESTROY,SOAPATIENT’S
BACTERIA NEEDS TO BE TESTED AGAINST A GLOBAL “LIBRARY” OF PHAGES.