Have you read Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis? It's a classic that I read in high school. It was published in 1925. I ask because one of the main plot themes involves bacteriophages. Ever since, from time to time, imaginative people have felt that they would be the next big thing in medicine. They do seem to be a possible tool in the medical arsenal. But, they really have never proven all that effective. Perhaps now with the advances in genetic modification they will be more useful. But I for one still remember poor Dr Arrowsmith's failure to cure the plague.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrowsmith_(novel)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage

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I think there is a acute need to find an alternate way to fight against bacteria. As more and more antibiotics are proving useless against these microbes as they have developed resistance against all the known antibiotics, scientists are looking for a possible alternate. And bacteriophages ( A bacteriophage is any one of a number of viruses that infect bacteria) is one of the possible alternate. In August, 2006 the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved using bacteriophages on cheese to kill the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, giving them GRAS status (Generally Recognized As Safe). In July 2007, the same bacteriophages were approved for use on all food products. Clinical trials reported in the Lancet show success in veterinary treatment of pet dogs with otitis. All these facts suggest bacteriophages is going to be an important field to fight against bacteria.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage

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