In Our Time: Bacteriophages

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how studying viruses can help to cure bacterial illnesses. Early in the 20th century, scientists noticed that something in their Petri dishes was making bacteria disappear and they called these bacteriophages, things that 'eat' bacteria. From studying these phages, it became clear that they offered countless real or potential benefits, from the tracking of diseases to helping unlock the secrets of DNA to treatments for long term bacterial infections. With further research, they could be an answer to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance