Could viruses be the good guys? An obscure 100-year-old medical therapy to treat infection enlists viruses called bacteriophages that evolved to target bacteria. Can it help us avoid a post-antibiotic world? This week, it’s “Not Just a Phage” on Big Picture Science.

We’re hurtling towards a post-antibiotic world, as the overuse of antibiotics has given rise to dangerous drug-resistant bacteria. Can we fight back using viruses as weapons? An obscure medical therapy uses certain viruses called bacteriophages to treat infection. For a century attempts to turn phage-therapy into a life-saving treatment have faltered, but today there’s renewed interest in this approach. Can we use phages to forestall the antibiotic crisis?