ArticleThe ISME journal2026
Rapid resistance evolution against phage cocktails.
Article in The ISME journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Phage therapy: from basic biology to clinical application.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Phage-Based Approaches to ChronicAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Extreme diversity of phage amplification rates and phage-antibiotic interactions revealed by PHORCE.PLoS biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
When bacteria are treated with multiple antibiotics simultaneously, resistance is highly unlikely to evolve. In contrast, resistance against multiple phages frequently arises during therapy. Why does resistance against multi-phage cocktails evolve so easily? Using a mathematical model, we show how the bacterial evolutionary dynamics and phage replicative dynamics uniquely intertwine, facilitating the rapid evolution of multi-phage resistance. As different phages replicate and become inhibitory at varying time points, bacteria can sequentially acquire resistance rather than simultaneously-increasing the chance of multi-resistance by orders of magnitude. We predict and experimentally verify a regime where multi-phage resistance is robustly prevented. Our findings provide a framework for the rational design of phage cocktails to curtail resistance development. Resistance can be minimized by reducing the dose of the most potent phages or by using phages with longer latent periods, as this helps synchronize multi-phage selection.
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Registered trials
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