Issue Viral Solution

Summary

Viral Solution asks whether viruses could remove the need for antibiotics. Bacteriophages, viruses that are bioengineered to attack bacteria, would serve as a precision treatment for bacterial infections. In this vision they would wipe out antibiotic-resistant infections and make antibiotics unnecessary altogether. The opportunity belongs to the Advanced Health and Nutrition megatrend and draws on trends such as communicable and non-communicable disease, genomics and precision medicine, supported by biotechnology, nanomedicine and real-time analytics. Its keywords include antimicrobial resistance, phage therapy, CRISPR-Cas and precision medicine, with healthcare, agriculture and insurance among the sectors most affected.