Pathogenic bacteria cause illness in humans and animals. These harmful bacteria reproduce quickly in the body and produce toxic proteins. Antibiotics are the usual treatment, but bacterial mutations that result in antibiotic resistance are becoming more common world-wide. An alternative approach to treating bacterial infections is to infect the bacteria with bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are organisms that infect and kill bacterial cells. These natural killers of bacteria can overcome all of the cellular or organism-level defences.
Bacteriophages attach to targeted bacteria, insert genetic information, replicate using the host bacterium, burst the cell wall, thereby destroying the bacterium, and move on to kill yet more bacteria.
In natural settings, bacteriophages can be isolated from the environment where a particular bacterium grows (e.g., from sewage or feces). While harvesting natural bacteriophage is possible, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. The bacteriophages found in nature are very specific to the one type of disease-causing bacterial species.
Our alternative to this system is to design (not find) bacteriophages that can attack multiple species of bacteria. Cytophage offers a solution with tailor-made synthetic bacteriophages that combat bacterial infections and contaminations.
Bacteriophage therapy has unlimited uses and is effective in eradicating bacterial disease and infection in three key areas.
In food safety, our phages help prevent disease and the spread of disease, without introducing antibiotics into the food chain or the environment.
Cytophage is developing bacteriophages that will reduce and ultimately replace the use of antibiotics for illness prevention and growth enhancement in livestock, starting with poultry.
In human health, phages can address a full range of bacterial illnesses and conditions, from treating acne and eczema, alleviating internal bacterial infections such as pneumonia, preventing wound infections and battling outbreaks such as cholera or diphtheria.
Phages can also be used for the decontamination of hospital surfaces and counters, tools and instruments, beds and curtains, and anywhere else bacterial contamination is a concern.
Bacteriophages are organisms that infect and kill bacterial cells. These natural killers of bacteria can overcome all of the cellular or organism-level defences.
Bacteriophages are organisms that infect and kill bacterial cells. These natural killers of bacteria can overcome all of the cellular or organism-level defences.
We can win the war against battlefield infection.
Cytophage was selected for the Defense Innovation Award 2019.
Winner of 2018 Nutreco Feed Tech Challenge
For our breakthrough innovation to help feed the world.
Cytophage Technologies Inc. © 2019