Phage therapy via receptor-constrained evolutionary traps.

Receptor-constrained evolutionary traps enable phages to steer bacterial evolution, reducing resistance and restoring antibiotic sensitivity effectively.

• Why it matters: Bacterial resistance often causes phage therapy to fail, highlighting the need for strategies that limit resistance development and improve treatment outcomes.
• What they did: The study proposes selecting phages targeting bacterial receptors whose modification incurs predictable costs, using a framework that guides bacterial evolution toward exploitable trade-offs.
• The result: This approach can transform resistance into vulnerabilities such as decreased virulence or increased antibiotic sensitivity, enhancing the efficacy and durability of phage therapy.