The stories that made the field
Phage therapy’s modern revival was driven by a handful of extraordinary cases — triumphs, a sobering cohort, and an instructive failure. Each is told here, accurately and in full.
The Rescue That Revived Phage Therapy in America
2016How an intravenous cocktail of viruses pulled Tom Patterson back from a months-long coma
Acinetobacter baumannii (multidrug-resistant)
Read the case →Engineering Viruses to Save a Teenager
2019The first therapeutic use of genetically modified bacteriophages, against a relentless mycobacterial infection
Mycobacterium abscessus (drug-resistant, disseminated)
Read the case →One Hundred Cases That Mapped the Real-World Power of Phages
2024A Belgian-led consortium showed that phages and antibiotics work best as partners, not rivals
Multiple multidrug-resistant pathogens (Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella and others)
Read the case →The Trial That 'Failed' for the Right Reasons
2019PhagoBurn lost its phages on the shelf — and taught the field that formulation is everything
Pseudomonas aeruginosa (burn wound infection)
Read the case →