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Pingry phage!!!
 Image of bacteriophage isolated from soil samples at Pingry.
Project supported by Dr. Vince Fischetti, Dr. Ray Schuch,
and Jonathan Schmitz
(Fischetti Lab) at the Rockefeller University.
This
Siphoviridae was isolated by Brooke C.
and Danielle L.
Pingry students
have isolated
phage cultures
from soil sample collected
around the school since the 2006-2007
academic year.
Students in Science
Research learn how to manipulate phage in
the laboratory while learning about their
current applications in biotechnolgoy and
industry.
Antibiotic-resistant infections are increasingly
becoming a problem as some strains now even
resist "last-resort" drugs like Vancomycin.
The CDC estimates that close to 1.2 million
patients acquire a drug-resistant infection in
the hospital every year and for about 99,000 of
these patients, the infections results in death.
The CDC also reports that methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) alone kills more
people in the US than AIDS every year.
Drug-resistant bacteria including tuberculosis
(TB) has always been one of the top killers in
developing countries but has now returned to be
significant public heath problems even in
developed countries.
The Fischetti lab
is developing phage enzymes as an anti-bacterial
agent. They have successfully demonstrated
that phage enzymes can be
used to kill pathogenic bacterial
strains including B. anthracis (anthrax)
and MRSA.
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