Fecal Phage Dark Matter and Other Stories of the Human Virome (Part I) Flashcards
For every cell there are ____ viruses affecting it.
10
Why do viruses exist? (one perspective)
Cellular life exists so that viruses have something to eat.
How many viruses are there in the world?
There are 10^31 viruses in the world
How many viral species on Earth?
At least 100 million viral species on Earth.
What are important aspects of viruses?
Major predators on the planet
Determine which strains survive and control the number of microbes.
Most genetic diversity is viral.
Move DNA around planet
Important genes are evolving in viruses.
What are microbes?
Microbes = collection of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microbes.
What are human microbiomes correlated to?
Obesity, cancer, autoimmune disease, brain chemistry, and vaccine efficacy
True or False: overwhelming number of viruses affect microbes.
True
What are examples of ways the human virome works?
Persistent/latent infections, Transient infections with animal cell viruses.
Endogenous retroviruses (8% of human DNA).
Bacteriophage predators of bacteria and archaea
What are holobionts?
Collection of all animal and human genes (includes environment)
What makes holobionts different?
The main difference between holobionts are the viruses: Differently encoded in viruses and leads to diversity in microbes.
What are bacteriophages?
Viruses that infect bacteria
There are more bacteriophages on Earth than:
Stars in the Universe, Grains of sand on Earth, Atoms in the human body.
Host-associated polymicrobial communities are powerful indicators of?
health and disease.
What do probiotics and prebiotics do?
Shape the composition and activity of microbes by providing nutrients.
What is the difference between probiotics and prebiotics?
Probiotics = live cultures
Prebiotics = fiber
What does a fecal transplant do?
replenishes gut microbes after antibiotics. (First FDA approved fecal transplant has occurred).
What does phage therapy do?
Targets bacterial killing and could target antibiotic resistant bacteria.
When was phage therapy discovered and why is it important?
Discovered > 100 years ago and is at the forefront of molecular biology. CRISPER may be used to defend against phages.
What is the current state of antibiotics?
No fundamentally new antibiotics have been discovered for 20 years. They are not profitable because resistance arises quickly. But bacterial infections are becoming increasingly lethal.
What is a profitable industry?
Statins
What is the difference between antibiotics and phage therapy?
Anitiobitics kill pathogens and are more general.
Phage therapy is specific to a subset of bacteria and doesn’t affect all members of genus and species.
What is an unconventional form of antimicrobial treatment: phage therapy?
Bacteriphages are viruses that kill bacteria and since they are specific to bacteria and cannot infect human cells or cause disease, they are an ideal tool.
What are the applications of phage therapy?
Because poor circulation makes it difficult to deliver the correct amount of antibiotics to an infected area, phage therapy can be used to increase the dosage of antibiotics. This also helps prevent pockets where bacteria that is resistant to the antibiotics pops up, because of prior insufficient dosage due to poor circulation.
