The Citizen Phage Library: Rapid Isolation of Phages for the Treatment of Antibiotic Resistant Infections in the UK.
Julie Fletcher, Robyn Manley, Christian Fitch, Christina Bugert, Karen Moore, Audrey Farbos, Michelle Michelsen, Shayma Alathari, Nicola Senior, Alice Mills, Natalie Whitehead, James Soothill, Stephen Michell, Ben Temperton
Author Information
Julie Fletcher: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK. ORCID
Robyn Manley: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK. ORCID
Christian Fitch: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK. ORCID
Christina Bugert: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK.
Karen Moore: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK. ORCID
Audrey Farbos: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK.
Michelle Michelsen: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK.
Shayma Alathari: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK. ORCID
Nicola Senior: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK. ORCID
Alice Mills: Exeter Science Centre, Kaleider Studios, 45 Preston Street, Exeter EX1 1DF, UK.
James Soothill: Microbiology, Virology and Infection Control, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3JH, UK.
Stephen Michell: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK. ORCID
Ben Temperton: Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK. ORCID
Antimicrobial resistance poses one of the greatest threats to global health and there is an urgent need for new therapeutic options. Phages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria and phage therapy could provide a valuable tool for the treatment of multidrug-resistant infections. In this study, water samples collected by citizen scientists as part of the Citizen Phage Library (CPL) project, and wastewater samples from the Environment Agency yielded phages with activity against clinical strains BPRG1484 and BPRG1482. A total of 169 and 163 phages were found for and , respectively, within four days of receiving the strains. A third strain ( BPRG1486) demonstrated cross-reactivity with 42 phages already held in the CPL collection. Seed lots were prepared for four phages and a cocktail combining these phages was found to reduce melanisation in a infection model. The resources and protocols utilised by the Citizen Phage Library enabled the rapid isolation and characterisation of phages targeted against multiple strains. In the future, within a clearly defined regulatory framework, phage therapy could be made available on a named-patient basis within the UK.
