UC San Diego

Antibiotic resistance is a prominent global health challenge as more bacteria are gaining resistance, making antibiotic obsolete to a growing number of strains. To combat the antibiotic resistant microbes, bacteriophage (phage) therapy, using viruses that target bacteria, became a viable option for aiding patients fighting resistant microbes. In performing phage therapy for these patients, antibiotics are often administered with the phages to provide the best chance for the patients’ survival, but these chemical and viral interactions or even synergistic effects have not been thoroughly studied due to the difficulty and inaccessibility of the current liquid assay methods. Development of solid media assays to test for antibiotic and phage interactions on bacterial lawns allows for easier and accessible testing methods for phage-antibiotic synergy (PAS) using materials readily available in clinical labs worldwide, lowering the entry barrier in international communities to further investigate PAS or to consider synergy in phage therapy testing.