Bacteriophages in Therapy: Efficacy and Safety Considerations
A special issue of Applied Microbiology (ISSN 2673-8007).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 369
Editor
Interests: biology of bacteriophages; biodiversity of bacteriophages; regulation of bacteriophage development; regulation of phage gene expression; control of phage DNA replication; phage therapy; phages bearing genes of toxins; bacteriophage genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The increasing prevalence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics represents one of the major challenges facing contemporary human and veterinary medicine, with significant implications for public health, animal health, and food safety. In response to the declining effectiveness of conventional antibacterial therapies, growing attention has been directed toward phage therapy, which is based on the use of bacteriophages, viruses capable of specifically infecting and eliminating bacterial cells. This Special Issue, titled “Bacteriophages in Therapy: Efficacy and Safety Considerations”, is dedicated to the current state of knowledge on the application of bacteriophages in both human medicine and veterinary practice, with particular emphasis on their therapeutic potential and the challenges associated with safety and clinical implementation.
The aim of this Special Issue is to present the latest findings from preclinical and clinical studies evaluating the efficacy of phage therapy in the treatment of bacterial infections in humans and animals, including infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens, chronic infections, and those associated with biofilm formation. Key topics include the selection and characterization of bacteriophages, strategies for personalized phage therapy, and the potential of combining phages with antibiotics, probiotics, and other therapeutic approaches.
A significant portion of this Issue will be focused on safety aspects of phage therapy, including host immune responses, stability and quality of phage preparations, the risk of horizontal gene transfer, and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic considerations. Issues specific to veterinary applications are also addressed, such as the use of bacteriophages in animal husbandry, the treatment of infectious diseases in companion and food producing animals, and strategies to reduce antibiotic use in livestock production. Regulatory, ethical, and technological aspects essential for the development of phage therapy within the “One Health” framework will also be discussed.
This Special Issue is intended for researchers, clinicians, veterinarians, microbiologists, and biotechnologists interested in innovative strategies for combating bacterial infections in both human and animal populations.
Prof. Dr. Alicja Wegrzyn
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Microbiology is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- bacteriophages
- phage therapy
- human and veterinary medicine
- antibiotic resistance
- therapy safety
- bacterial infections
- bacterial biofilm
- One Health
- clinical studies
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