How a long-forgotten virus could help us solve the antibiotics crisis | Alexander Belcredi

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 November 2018

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Viruses have a bad reputation -- but some of them could one day save your life, says biotech entrepreneur Alexander Belcredi. In this fascinating talk, he introduces us to phages, naturally-occurring viruses that hunt and kill harmful bacteria with deadly precision, and shows how these once-forgotten organisms could provide new hope against the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This TED Talk features biotech entrepreneur Alexander Belcretti, recorded live at TED at BCG
0:07.0	2018.
0:10.0	Take a moment and think about a virus.
0:14.0	What comes to your mind?
0:16.0	An illness?
0:18.0	A fear?
0:19.0	Probably something really unpleasant.
0:23.2	And yet, viruses are not all the same.
0:24.3	It's true.
0:26.8	Some of them cause devastating disease.
0:29.0	But others can do the exact opposite.
0:30.8	They can cure disease.
0:33.1	These viruses are called phages.
0:36.5	Now, the first time I heard about phages was back in 2013.
0:41.3	My father-in-law, who's a surgeon, was telling me about the woman he was treating. The woman had a knee injury, required multiple surgeries,
0:44.3	and over the course of these developed a chronic bacterial infection in her leg.
0:49.3	Unfortunately for her, the bacteria causing the infection also did not respond to any antibiotic that was available.
0:56.5	So at this point, typically the only option left is to amputate the leg to stop the infection
1:00.9	from spreading further. Now, my father-in-law was desperate for a different kind of solution,
1:06.7	and he applied for an experimental last resort treatment using phages.
1:11.6	And guess what? It worked.
1:13.5	Within three weeks of applying the phages, the chronic infection had healed up,
	...

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