Antibiotic resistance has become a real problem, http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/  This comes from the overuse by medical professionals (given even if the sickness is caused by a virus) and misuse by patients (not using all of the drug, stopping when you feel better, vs. finishing the full dose).  MRSA (http://www.cdc.gov/mrsa/  is a very big problem in hospitals.

Now we are looking at research from many decades ago in a new light that might help us fight these resistant bacteria – once again emphasizing the importance of keeping an open mind in science, especially as we learn more with better tools.  http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/soviet-era-treatment-could-be-new-weapon-war-against-antibiotic-resistance

Read the above article about using phages to fight bacteria, and think about how this works with what we are discussing in class about proteins, cell membranes and cell recognition (note the first two links are just to pages where you can get definitions/info on antibiotic resistance and MRSA, the last link is the article you need to read in full).

1)  In your 4-5 sentence response explain in general how proteins are important in this phage therapy (e.g. how do they recognize their target?), why is it harder for bacteria to become resistant to phages, and why this method will work better now than it did decades ago.

2) On another note, the US is often behind in terms of medical advances, especially compared to Europe.  Do you think that public opinion will be open to this ‘new’ therapy, and what will be the consequences if the public can’t open their minds along with the medical community?

The pictures I attached are example.