by News and interviews on the phage field.
We will give you a merge between novel phage research and the personal experiences of people in the field. Learn phage science and how to navigate your careers, your life and do research! Brought to you by David Sáez, Maria Sequeira Lopes and Alexandre Lima. Enjoy the show! For comments and inquiries reach out to phagecast@gmail.com
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Publishing Since
4/23/2023
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June 1, 2026
<p>In this episode of Phage Bites, we speak with Luciana Meneses about her recent Nature Communications study on the directed evolution of phages in biofilms and how this approach can improve the control of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.</p><p><br></p><p>We discuss how phages can adapt to the heterogeneous bacterial populations found within biofilms, the experimental evolution strategy used in the study, and how evolved phages achieved improved recognition of bacterial lipopolysaccharides. We also cover the methods used to characterize these adaptations. </p><p><br></p><p>A major focus of the conversation is the relevance of these findings for phage therapy. We discuss how bacterial populations within biofilms are far from uniform, why this heterogeneity can limit the efficacy of phage treatments, and how evolving phages under biofilm conditions may generate variants better suited to target clinically relevant bacterial subpopulations.</p><p><br></p><p>We also explore the broader implications of using experimental evolution as a strategy to improve phage performance against chronic biofilm-associated infections.</p><p><br></p><p>Finally, Luciana shares her experience as a PhD student in the Azeredo Lab, reflects on the challenges and rewarding aspects of the project, and offers advice for students and young researchers interested in the field of phage biology.</p><p><br></p><p>Do not forget that Viruses of Microbes is still accepting inscriptions and will take place in Prague from 6-10 July 2026.</p>
April 15, 2026
<p>In this episode, we speak with <strong>Prof. Jeremy Barr</strong>, Professor at Monash University, about his work on bacteriophages in the human gut and the ecological and functional roles of temperate phages within the microbiome.</p><p>We discuss his recent study Isolation, engineering and ecology of temperate phages from the human gut, focusing on <strong>prophages in gut bacteria</strong> and <strong>how frequently they may enter the lytic cycle</strong>. </p><p>We cover the experimental approaches used to isolate and characterize temperate phages from gut bacteria, including induction, bacterial and human cells. We speak about <strong>environmental factors that may influence prophage induction,</strong> including dietary compounds, and how epithelial perturbation during inflammation can shape gut virome dynamics.</p><p>We then explore evolutionary and genomic aspects of gut temperate phages, including the <strong>presence of prophages lacking integrases, the role of diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs), and possible evolutionary trajectories toward prophage domestication.</strong> We also discuss<strong> polylysogeny</strong> and whether temperate phages may serve as stable platforms for gene delivery in microbiome-associated contexts.</p><p>Finally, <strong>Jeremy shares reflections on the process of publishing the study in </strong><strong>Nature</strong>, including how the manuscript evolved during peer review, and lessons learned during the revision process.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Do not forget that Viruses of Microbes is still accepting inscriptions and will take place in Prague from 6-10 July 2026.</strong></p>
March 2, 2026
<p>In this episode, we speak with <strong>Luisa de Sordi</strong>, Associate Professor at Sorbonne University ain France, about her work on bacteriophages in the gut and their role in Crohn’s disease.</p><p>We discuss her recent Cell Reports study examining whether bacteriophages can cross the intestinal barrier and enter the bloodstream, and how this process differs between healthy individuals and patients with Crohn’s disease. The study shows that certain phages translocate at higher levels in Crohn’s patients. We also cover the experimental approach used to track phages across epithelial layers, including fluorescent labeling and other methods and questions they answered!</p><p>We then turn to her recent work in Gastroenterology, where her team analyzed the blood virome in Crohn’s disease. </p><p>We also asked some personal questions and got some valuable advice! Stay till the end if you want to hear it!</p>
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We will give you a merge between novel phage research and the personal experiences of people in the field. Learn phage science and how to navigate your careers, your life and do research!
Brought to you by David Sáez, Maria Sequeira Lopes and Alexandre Lima. Enjoy the show!
For comments and inquiries reach out to phagecast@gmail.com
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