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When Viruses Are Our Friends
We usually think of viruses as things which make us sick. As nasty little parasites that cause all kinds of problems…including, occasionally, large scale pandemics.
But not all viruses are pathogenic. Some are only pathogenic under certain circumstances (herpes comes to mind here). And some might actually be our friends.
The Human Virome
Right now, you have trillions of viruses living on and in your body. Yes, even if you are perfectly healthy.
In fact, some of these viruses are probably essential to keeping you alive, although we don’t yet understand how.
Others are “passengers,” which infect at a low level without causing symptoms. Our bodies just kind of ignore them because they aren’t worth the effort of marshaling an immune response.
So, what kinds of things does our virome do for us?
Most importantly, we harbor phages. Phages are viruses that infect bacteria. By keeping these phages around, we have them available as an additional immune weapon against bacterial disease. Engineered phages are being explored as an alternative to antibiotics, both because of resistance and because phages only like certain bacteria. This would let us treat an infection without those gnarly GI side effects. They also help us avoid the overgrowth…