Phage Therapy: An Emerging Strategy against Drug-Resistant Bacteria and Future Perspectives

The widespread use of antimicrobial agents has led to the increasingly severe global problem of drug resistance. Multidrug-resistant bacteria and even "superbugs" threaten human health, making the development of new antibacterial approaches extremely urgent. Against this backdrop, phage therapy has attracted much attention as an emerging strategy. From both historical and empirical standpoints, this paper examines the devastation wrought by unchecked Yersinia pestis during the Black Death. It proceeds to dissect the mechanisms of drug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria, elucidate the bactericidal action of phages, and introduce therapeutic strategies employing single phages, phage cocktails, and genetically modified phages. It lists successful cases to demonstrate the application effects of phage therapy. The analysis highlights the advantages of phage therapy in precise bactericidal action, low immunogenicity, etc.. It points out its challenges in large-scale production, regulation, bacterial drug resistance, and clinical cognition. Phage therapy can potentially combat drug-resistant bacteria, but it needs to overcome existing challenges. In the future, in-depth research should be carried out from optimizing production and improving regulation to promote its development.