Not Just a Phage

Big Picture Science

Science, Technology

4.6 • 986 Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We’re hurtling towards a post-antibiotic world, as the overuse of antibiotics has given rise to dangerous drug-resistant bacteria. Can we fight back using viruses as weapons? An obscure medical therapy uses certain viruses called bacteriophages to treat infection. For a century attempts to turn phage-therapy into a life-saving treatment have faltered, but today there’s renewed interest in this approach. Can we use phages to forestall the antibiotic crisis? Guests: Claas Kirchhelle – Medical historian at the University College, Dublin Tom Ireland – Journalist, editor of The Biologist and author of “The Good Virus: The Amazing Story and Forgotten Promise of the Phage” Steffanie Strathdee – Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences at the University of California San Diego Tom Patterson – Professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego Descripción en español Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Originally aired August 12, 2024 You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
0:04.4	Hi, this is Ava from Vanta.
0:07.3	In today's digital world, compliance regulations are changing constantly,
0:11.7	and earning customer trust has never mattered more.
0:14.6	Vanta helps companies get compliant fast and stay secure,
0:18.0	with the most advanced AI automation and continuous monitoring out there.
0:22.1	So whether you're a startup going for your first stock two or ISO-27,001,
0:26.1	or a growing enterprise managing vendor risk, Banta makes it quick, easy and scalable.
0:31.1	And I'm not to say that because I work here.
0:32.9	Get started today at banta.com.
0:35.6	Get a free bet when you bet five pounds every week of the Premier League season and a big
0:40.1	boost every day.
0:41.3	That's satisfaction from Labbrooks.
0:43.3	And for extra satisfaction, here's the D's and C's garage style.
0:46.3	18 plus 1st of September to 24th of May.
0:48.6	Opting weekly.
0:49.7	Selecting Premier League markets.
0:52.5	Match one free bet per week.
0:54.1	Values vary. Restrictions and TNCs apply Daily odds boosts TNCs on labbrooks.com Gamblerware.org I'm It's no surprise that many people refer to antibiotics as miracle drugs.
1:19.6	Before we had them, a small cut could lead to a painful infection or even death.
1:24.6	But our overuse of antibiotics has created drug-resistant bacteria
1:29.3	in a global medical crisis. One of the biggest health threats facing humanity in
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Big Picture Science, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Big Picture Science and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.