Phage therapy is the use of bacteriophages—viruses that infect and destroy specific bacteria—as a therapeutic alternative to antibiotics. Alongside other non-traditional approaches such as antimicrobial peptides, probiotics, and CRISPR-based antimicrobials, phage therapy represents a promising frontier in combating multidrug-resistant (MDR) infections.
As antibiotic resistance escalates into a global health crisis, innovative and targeted therapies are becoming essential. This session will explore phage therapy and a range of next-generation antimicrobial strategies as viable alternatives or complements to traditional antibiotics. Phage therapy, which leverages naturally occurring viruses to eliminate bacterial infections, has re-emerged as a powerful solution in treating resistant infections where antibiotics have failed.
Key topics covered include:
- Mechanisms and biology of bacteriophage infection
- Clinical trials and case studies in phage therapy
- Regulatory challenges and personalized phage medicine
- Synergy between phages and antibiotics
- CRISPR-Cas and gene-editing antimicrobials
- Antimicrobial peptides and host-derived therapies
- Probiotics and microbiome modulation as therapeutic tools
- Future prospects of synthetic biology in antimicrobial development
This session invites microbiologists, infectious disease specialists, biotechnologists, regulatory experts, and pharmaceutical innovators to present breakthroughs and translational advances in non-antibiotic therapies.