But as we’ve become increasingly dependent on chemical antibiotics, bacteria have developed resistance to these drugs. The crisis of antibiotic resistance is starting to hit hard, with millions of people dying every year from infections that our best antibiotics can’t treat. If we don’t adopt new approaches, we face a return to the time before antibiotics—when even minor ailments, like food poisoning or surgical wounds, could cause life-threatening complications. There are some places in the world that never stopped using phages to treat infections. One of those places is Georgia, the former Soviet country at the southern tip of Russia. Here, doctors prescribe phages for all manner of ailments. In pharmacies, you can get solutions of concentrated phages to swig, or phage-infused creams to rub on wounds or spots.

A masterful blend of jaw-dropping science and absorbing storytelling. . . . This book reminds us of the missed opportunities we simply cannot afford to miss again." George McGavin Throughout the 20th century, scientists and doctors in places like Georgia, and other former Soviet countries like Russia and Poland, kept refining the use of phages as medicines. Drugs like penicillin were often hard to get in the Soviet Union and so they poured their efforts into producing thousands of litres of phage-based medicines every year. “When doctors in the West do try to use phages, it is often as a last resort.” A colorful redemption story for the oft-neglected yet incredibly abundant phage. . . . Ireland, an award-winning science journalist, approaches the subject of his first book with curiosity and passion, delivering a deft narrative that is rich and approachable." The New York Times Book Review - Alex Johnson The Good Virus looks at phages’ role in medicine, molecular biology, and the planet’s ecosystems. In this extract, Ireland explores how marine phage ecology is helping to create new insights that can help phage therapy.

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Bacteria are also constantly evolving, but they can develop resistance to antibiotics in many different ways, not just through evolution. Some bacteria already have resistance mechanisms in place. As antibiotics become more prevalent in the environment, the bacteria will select for this resistant mechanism and it will become more dominant in the gene pool. The author points out that antibiotic resistance shows up even in places with very little antibiotic usage. When watching a program on The Great Courses, I learned that even the Hadza (one of the last remaining hunter gatherer groups) have antibiotic resistance despite having never been exposed to antibiotics suggesting that it is environmentally derived. This means that antibiotic resistance is a global problem.

I’ve just begun to read the book, and I love how the tone strikes a good balance between casual and scientific, making it an easy recommendation to aunts, uncles, and grandparents who want to learn more about phages. Though Ireland’s relentless optimism about phage therapy’s potential can suggest that only miserly pharmaceutical companies stand in the way of the treatment’s widespread availability, phage therapy is a long way from being consistently effective at treating infections.

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As engaging as it is expansive, The Good Virus describes the distinctive biology and murky history of bacteriophage (generally shortened to ‘phage’), a form of life that is remarkably abundant yet obscure enough to have been termed the ‘dark matter of biology.’—David A. Shaywitz, Wall Street Journal Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.

A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.

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With such inconsistent results, phages got a bad reputation. When antibiotic drugs came along, doctors in most countries found them far more consistent and convenient. Over the course of the 20th century, much of the world abandoned the idea of using phages, and then virtually forgot all about it. It’s written superbly and in such a way that it’s accessible for all. It effortlessly breaks down complicated science into easy to understand nuggets and in such a way that you’ll enjoy it all along the way. I already knew a little about phages and it’s early beginnings and applications but there was so much I learnt and am still yet to know! It really is such an interesting area of science so it’s a must read for all. A fascinating and absorbing guide to this abundant but rarely studied life form, The Good Virus takes us through the discovery of bacteriophages and their use in laboratory research, and highlights their increasingly likely future as a weapon against antibiotics-resistant bacteria." Sarah Gilbert So why are phages not a commonly used word in English as is the word antibiotic? Phages grew up in The Soviet Union and antibiotics grew up in the West. Phages were "communist" medicine and could not be trusted! Biologists used them for research and that was about it. The Cold War is past but problems remain. Getting phages through large-scale clinical trials is very difficult because every body reacts differently, dosing is a guessing game, and most importantly, there's not enough money in it for the pharmaceutical industry. Those are just a few of the problems that await phage therapy. The author goes into many more. One of the best books of any genre that I've read in 2023, this superbly-written book ... will fascinate absolutely everyone.'