Paul E. Turner (Yale) 3: Phage Therapy

Part 1: Introduction to Virus Ecology and Evolution: Dr. Paul Turner describes the fundamental biology of viruses, how they interact with their host organisms, and how they might have originally evolved long ago.
 
Part 2: Virus Adaptation to Environmental Change: Turner’s laboratory uses experimental evolution to study how viruses adapt to environmental changes.
 
Part 3: Phage Therapy: Turner provides an introduction to phage therapy, and how it can be improved by applying ‘evolution thinking’.

Talk Overview:
In his first lecture, Dr. Paul Turner 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. Turner explains 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. Turner’s 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. Turner’s 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. In his third lecture, Turner provides an introduction to phage therapy, and how it can be improved by applying ‘evolution thinking’. His laboratory discovered phage OMKO1 that can treat multi-drug resistant bacteria in human patients while causing these bacteria to evolve greater sensitivity to antibiotics.

Speaker Biography:
Dr. Paul Turner is Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, and holds an appointment in the Microbiology Program at Yale School of Medicine. His laboratory studies how viruses evolutionarily adapt to overcome environmental challenges, such as temperature changes or infection of novel host species. Turner received his bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Rochester in 1988, and completed his graduate studies in microbial ecology and evolution at Michigan State University in 1995. Learn more about Dr. Turner’s research here:

[natassiacorrea]

great teacher! loved this presentation!

[DrReginaldFinleySr]

Amazing. Thank you for sharing this with us. Looking forward to discussing this more with my students. The advances over the last 3 years have been astounding.

[jjcool]

outstanding Dr. Turner, my major is biology applying to med school 2023 can't afford Yale

[marilu]

Thank you for this charismatic presentation of an interesting topic 👍

[Ana-bwgm]

By now you would have tested safety/efficacy in mouse model for lung pneumonia. Do you have results? Have you done clinical trail in human patients? Is phage treatment used in USA?

[mirvine]

Imagine if we lived in a world where this video had 10 billion views and Drake's shitty song "God's Plan" had 8 thousand views.

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[kamalsingh-rpeo]

please dont stop uploading i love biology

[ashburnconnecttv]

What about Quorum Sensing (QS) and Its Role in the P. aeruginosa Biofilm? Do you think biofilm is the cause of bacteria resistance to drugs? Do you think Sulforaphane can inhibit QS P. aeruginosa Biofilm?

[soeminwaiyan]

Wouldn’t our immune system try to eliminate those bacteriophages by recruiting memory cells, doctor? I don’t really know about the method of introducing the phages though.

[indieisin]

Any argument to get our scientific community to seriously consider something new, we are running out of other options... This video is a bit old so I wonder how their research has progressed.

[catchfish]

Americans... Go to Georgia... they have been using it for nearly a Century.... They have the experience.

[woloabel]

(On Monday of April 10, 2023). On the Matter of PhD Paul E. Turner from Yale University on the Phage Therapy (Virus-Infection Anti-MDR Desensitization): 1) Lethal Force to be used with caution. Antibiotics themselves should be last choice yet People subsist taking Antibiotic Chemotherapy that mostly creates an Immunosuppression Profile, and these People are walking Biohazards (Aside from the Cystic Fibrosis, Diathesis of Immunosuppression or even the HIVs). To Kill anything is killing. The Bacteria will fight back understandably. What is not understood in this case is how people can continue to expose us all to their Human Laboratory Biohazards Manufactured Pathogenosis. Could it be because these Thugs are only doing the Bidding of most Detestable Profiteers on Earth? In short, the Goal should be to Exclude these people from the Average Good Old Folk since their Genetic, Environmental Antibiotic Abuse is Dictating the Molecular Mean of us all. Pardon me, but neither HeLa Cells, Phage Therapy, like Free Walking Pathogenic People are to be common fare for us ALL. Forget that! 2) Virus are to be Reckoned with certainly, but to kill them (an impossibility), or Grow them, or Design them, as is this Virology's Ability, is sheer madness no different than the Extremist Approach of Relying on Antibiotic, an Flagrant Abuse. This should include Prophylaxis of Vaccination. The Guts to manufacture Disease and unleash them on to US, let alone the charging often Exorbitant Fees for Such "Service and Product". Currently, this is more pathological than Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Multidrug Resistant Bacteria or Genetic Diseases (Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell Anemia) Combined. However, this Virology like Walking, Talking Breathing Pathogen Disseminators are to be Illegal (because they are) and Definitely, for the Well-being and Goodness of us all, Segregated (Incarceration possibility even) as Disease Control and Prevention (Supposed Task of the State [CDC] however has become an AIDS Promoting-Unleashing Criminal Enterprise Rather). PhD Turner, es nicht gut zu vermehren Krankenheiten oder verkehren in Wissenschaften der Daemon et al: Heil!

[christianrichmond]

Would our immune system get rid of the phages? ive read that most phages are hunted from the environment. doesnt that means they are foreign particles?

[ianbrennan]

I realise that creating the right phage lysin can take many years. Can they be used against covid 19?

[matiasbenavidesdigitalvisu]

that theory is real? of bacteria phage resistance become weak to antibiotics and so on?

[linapasteur]

You can also use Endolysine from BP. There is no resistance reported.

[kathyjackson]

Mr.Turner, would that help my husband. He has bad lungs. (I can’t write it, I have a stroke).

[flapyack]

To inhibit the spread of Phage resistant / antibiotic-sensitive bacteria - shouldn't both treatments be used synchronously or at least administer antibiotics immediately following the Phage? As opposed to waiting for the patient to exhibit further symptoms (or through blood tests) that indicate a phage resistant / evolved strain has developed? We obviously don't want that new bug spreading to anyone. Or is the thought process that, even if it is Phage resistant, at least it is antibiotic sensitive in others? Seems like you would want to kill the new bug with Patient Zero. But, I guess that's just too reasonable?
09:20 You make the assumption that the Phage may cause the target Bacteria to become vulnerable to previously ineffective antibiotics. The data that you PRESENTED supports this. But, are there any examples where this regression to antibiotic sensitivity did not occur? What options would be left in that situation? Are there any processes to identify different Phages that might be useful if that mutation occurs?
I see the massive benefits of this. I understand why pharmaceutical companies haven't worked on this, as they probably can't copyright/patent a lot of the processes or living organisms. Being a business, their only concern is money - not making people better. So, it's really up to people that actually care about each other's health to spread this information. Are there any resources that you could recommend that would help a community-based organization to start a Phagen bank?

[johnnybrown]

Ssethtzeentach brought me here. Very educational.

[Rishab]

What happens if virus jumps from bacteria to humans??? Because in previous lectures u said how amazing viruses are when it comes to survival