Phagovet

Page therapy – video

In this lecture, Dr Paul Turner, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, describes the fundamental biology of viruses, how they interact with their host organisms, and how they might have originally evolved long ago. He provides an overview of the many reasons why viruses might be considered the most biologically successful inhabitants of earth, including their ability to rapidly reproduce, and adapt to environmental challenges. Explaining how viruses have impacted human history, as well as earth’s history, due to their prevalent interactions with other species.

 

Viruses have an incredible capacity to adapt to environmental challenges, but sometimes, the environment constraints viral adaptation. Dr. Paul Turner laboratory uses experimental evolution to study how viruses adapt to environmental changes (e.g. temperature changes), and the mechanisms by which viruses jump to novel host species. Dr. Paul Turner work suggests that viruses with greater capacities to block the innate immune systems of their hosts, also have a greater likelihood of emerging on new host species. Also, he describes how virus adaptation to environmental change may be constraints by trade-offs: viruses can evolve either greater reproduction or greater survival, but not both simultaneously.

Before antibiotics were discovered, scientists were using viruses of bacteria, bacteriophages, to treat bacterial infections in humans. Given the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, scientists are revisiting the idea of using phage therapy to treat infections.

This article earlier appeared in the “iBiology” YouTube channel

References are available bellow.

https:// www.youtube.com/channel/UCsvqEZBO-kNmwuDBbKbfL6A

Evolutionary thinking” can improve the effectiveness of virus-based therapies, such as phage therapy, which involves using viruses to target and kill bacteria.

This approach can be particularly useful in the context of poultry farming, where bacterial infections can pose a significant threat to the health and productivity of birds.

By considering how viruses and bacteria evolve over time, researchers can design therapies that are more likely to be effective in combating specific strains of bacteria, and that are less likely to be countered by the bacteria’s own evolution.

Additionally, evolutionary approaches can be used to identify new viruses that may be useful in such therapies, and to predict how well existing therapies are likely to work in different contexts.

Overall, evolutionary thinking can be an important tool for improving the effectiveness of virus-based therapies in a variety of settings, including in the field of poultry farming.