Antibiotics have fundamentally changed medicine for the better. The onset of penicillin and other antibiotics seemed to spell the end for many bacteria-related illnesses. What medical professionals did not realize was that they were putting these bacteria under extreme artificial selection. This selection chose for antibiotic resistance, which has now surged into a public health epidemic. Due to this, researchers are actively seeking alternatives to these drugs. Bacteriophages-viruses that attack bacteria-are one such contender. Their specificity for bacterial cells and their ability to evolve alongside evolving bacterial defenses are ideal in a treatment that will stand the test of time. Another possibility are bacteriocins. These toxins are released by competing bacteria to inhibit growth. Research is pending on both these solutions in human treatment, but the future for fighting bacterial infections seems bright.
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