Pochi decenni dopo la messa in commercio degli antibiotici, è iniziata la controffensiva batterica con lo sviluppo di resistenze. Mentre la ricerca si dà da fare per identificare nuove classi di farmaci, un’altra soluzione sta riemergendo sui banconi di laboratorio e nei trial clinici: i batteriofagi. 

In questo episodio ascolteremo la storia di Thomas Patterson, che ha sperimentato sulla sua pelle gli effetti dell’era post-antibiotica,  e vedremo come i batteriofagi, virus che infettano ed eliminano i batteri, lo abbiano salvato da una pericolosa infezione da Acinetobacter baumannii. Ripercorreremo la vicenda insieme a Steffanie Strathdee, moglie di Thomas  ma anche epidemiologa, vicepresidente di Global Health Sciences, docente presso l’Università della California-San Diego (UCSD) e co-fondatrice del Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics. Assieme al marito, é autrice del libro memoir  “The perfect predator. A scientist’s race to save her husband from a deadly superbug”. 

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE DOSSIER: RETURN OF THE PHAGES The story of Thomas Patterson, saved from deadly bacteria with phages thanks to the intuition of his epidemiologist wife.

A few decades after the introduction of antibiotics, the bacterial counteroffensive began with the development of drug-resistance. While research races to identify new classes of drugs, another solution is reemerging in laboratories and clinical trials: bacteriophages.

In this episode, we will hear the story of Thomas Patterson, who personally experienced the reality of the post-antibiotic era,  and we will witness how bacteriophages—viruses that infect and eliminate bacteria—saved him from a dangerous Acinetobacter baumannii infection. We will recount the events with Steffanie Strathdee, Thomas’s wife, who is also epidemiologist, Associate Dean of Global Health Science, professor at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD), and co-founder of the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics. Together with her husband, she is the author of the memoir “The perfect predator. A scientist’s race to save her husband from a deadly superbug”. 

Crediti
Sceneggiatura: Valentina Fajner

Intervista a: Steffanie Strathdee, epidemiologa, vicepresidente di Global Health Sciences e docente presso l’Università della California-San Diego (UCSD) e co-fondatrice del Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics.

Lettura dal libro:“The perfect predator. A scientist’s race to save her husband from a deadly superbug”. Steffanie Strathdee, Thomas Patterson e Theresa Barker. Hachette Books.

Conduce: Valentina Fajner

Altre voci: Emilia Guberti

Montaggio, musiche ed effetti sonori: Michele Marini

Crediti audio
Effetti sonori:
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