Engineered bacteriophages for the control of E. coli O157
Channel: ZHAW School of Life Sciences & Facility Management
Date: 2020-02-11

Bacteriophages (phages) are bacterial viruses that are attracting increasing attention worldwide as a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics. The goal of this ZHAW project is to genetically engineer bacteriophages for a better control of pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) and to further develop large-scale phage production technologies. 

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a major threat to our society. These bacteria can cause serious infections in humans that are very hard or sometimes even impossible to treat. As a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics, bacteriophages are attracting more and more attention worldwide. Bacteriophages are viruses that only infect certain strains of bacteria. In Georgia and Russia, phages are commercially available from pharmacies and are routinely applied in surgeries. Just recently, a patient suffering from a multi drug-resistant bacterium was cured by phage therapy in Europe (Dedrick et al., 2019). New phage start-up companies are funded all over the globe. 

In our research project we aim to genetically engineer bacteriophages for a better control of pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli). In parallel to phage engineering, large-scale phage production technologies will be further developed to be compatible with the requirements of the pharmaceutical industry. 

This project will be conducted by joining forces of two ZHAW groups and four partners: 

Group of Lars Fieseler (https://www.zhaw.ch/en/about-us/person/fiee/), Institute of Food and Beverage Innovation (ILGI), ZHAW
Group of Lukas Neutsch (https://www.zhaw.ch/en/about-us/person/neuc/), Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology (ICBT), ZHAW
→ Roger Stephan, Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene, UZH
→ Martin J. Loessner, Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETHZ
→ Jöel van Mierlo, Micreos Food Safety, Netherlands
→ Franz Gabor, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, University of Vienna, Austria

More on our Health Research Lab: https://www.zhaw.ch/en/lsfm/research/health-research-hub/