Dear Colleagues,

Bacteriophages are supramolecular entities that, despite lacking the capacity to reproduce autonomously, exert a determinant influence on the health, preservation, diversification, and proliferation capacity of essentially all biological communities present on the Earth’s biosphere. Bacteriophages, or phages, as they are more familiarly referred to, are viruses that have the ability to infect bacterial and archaeal species, and may eventually kill them as collateral damage to their own replication mechanisms. From a historical point of view, the notion that bacteriophages could be used to control a variety of plant, animal, and human infections, as well as their successful use for such purposes, preceded the discovery of antibiotics by a number of years. Nevertheless, the discovery and ease of production of antibiotics led to the senseless abandonment of research lines focused on the therapeutic utilization of bacteriophages to control infectious human diseases. Research on the use of bacteriophages to control infectious diseases with tremendous ecological and economic implications for human survival (e.g., bacterial infections affecting plants, aquaculture, marine environments, and ecosystem stability) took place, which has led to current highly effective interventions and successful applications. With regard to the therapeutic use of bacteriophages in humans, there have been two key developments that, over time, have contributed to bringing bacteriophages once again to the therapeutic forefront: (a) the increasing appearance of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, including the so-called “superbugs”, and (b) the recognition of the importance of the role that the human microbiota, particularly the gut microbiota, plays in maintaining the normal homeostatic equilibrium of human organisms, and of the ways in which human microbiota imbalances (so-called dysbiosis) influence not only the onset but the development of a variety of human diseases (e.g., metabolic and inflammatory disorders, cardiovascular diseases, depression, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and even cancer). Consequently, there are two new roles that bacteriophages may be called upon to perform: (1) directly acting agents against infectious diseases for which antibiotics are no longer effective, and (2) microbiota-modulating agents capable of selectively favoring the colonization and establishment of microbial populations in our gut that would consistently contribute to the acquisition and maintenance of healthier physiological states. The generally high specificity of bacteriophages for their microbial targets as well as the possibility of using pre-defined bacteriophage cocktails provides a significant assurance of interventional achievements. This Special Issue focuses on highlighting the most recent successful applications of bacteriophage-based therapeutic approaches.

Prof. Dr. Tomás González Villa
Prof. Dr. Vicente Notario
Guest Editors

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• phage therapy
• applications of bacteriophage-based therapeutic approaches
• therapeutic utilization
• infection control
• microbiota-modulating agents
• bacteriophage cocktails