I-Corps: Polyvalent Bacteriophages

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是提供一种有效和低成本的手段来抑制环境中致病或有问题的细菌的生长。越来越多的人担心抗生素和杀生物剂的广泛使用促进了耐药菌株的进化，对此几乎没有有效的治疗方法。拟议的技术正在开发作为抗生素和生物杀灭剂的更安全和更环境可持续的替代品，或可用作联合治疗的一部分，以增强其效果。此外，所提出的技术是选择性的，并且可以针对群体中的特定细菌，从而保留有益物种的功能。该项目的成功实施将导致开发一系列可用于控制建筑和自然环境中细菌的产品。具体应用预计将包括农业病原体的控制，石油储层酸化的缓解，废水处理过程的优化，和微生物组engineering.This I-Corps项目是基于一个新的技术平台，用于分离和应用极宽的宿主范围（多价）噬菌体（病毒，只感染细菌）。在科学研究中报道的和开发用于商业用途的绝大多数噬菌体具有狭窄的宿主范围，这可能是由于使用了有偏见的分离技术。相比之下，所提出的技术优选地仅分离非常宽的宿主范围的噬菌体。多价噬菌体在控制许多自然和人工环境（包括生物膜）中的靶细菌方面具有比窄宿主范围噬菌体显著更有效的潜力。它们已被证明在抑制其目标细菌的生长方面更有效10至100倍，并已成功地用于从废水样品中消除99.99%的抗生素抗性基因。当与抗生素或杀菌剂结合使用时，该技术有望协同工作，从而能够长期和更全面地控制问题细菌。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to provide an effective and low-cost means for inhibiting the growth of pathogenic or problematic bacteria in the environment. There is growing concern that the widespread use of antibiotics and biocides has promoted the evolution of resistant bacterial strains for which there exist few effective treatments. The proposed technology is being developed as a safer and more environmentally sustainable alternative to antibiotics and biocides, or may be used as part of a combination treatment to enhance their effects. Additionally, the proposed technology is selective, and can target specific bacteria within a population, thus preserving the function of beneficial species. Successful implementation of this project will lead to the development of a wide range of products useful for controlling bacteria in both built and natural environments. Specific applications are expected to include the control of agricultural pathogens, mitigation of petroleum reservoir souring, optimization of wastewater treatment processes, and microbiome engineering.This I-Corps project is based on a novel technology platform for the isolation and application of extremely wide host-range (polyvalent) bacteriophages (viruses that only infect bacteria). The vast majority of bacteriophages reported in scientific studies and developed for commercial use have had a narrow host-range, likely due to the use of biased isolation techniques. In contrast, the proposed technology preferentially isolates only very wide host-range bacteriophages. Polyvalent bacteriophages have the potential to be significantly more effective than narrow host-range bacteriophages at controlling target bacteria in many natural and built environments, including biofilms. They have been shown to be 10- to 100-fold more effective at inhibiting the growth of their target bacteria, and have been successfully utilized to eliminate 99.99% of an antibiotic resistance gene from a wastewater sample. When used in combination with antibiotics or biocides, the technology is expected to work synergistically, enabling long-term and more complete control of problematic bacteria.