Pharmacies in the nation of Georgia have something ours don’t: vials of viruses in neat rows. People swallow or gargle the brews to combat routine bacterial infections. The viruses are bacteria-eaters that take on the human body’s enemies, sometimes with near-miraculous results. (Almost as amazing, kids even like the taste.)
These medicines, called bacteriophages, were developed over much of the 20th century, primarily in Georgia and other parts of Europe and the former Soviet Union, by dedicated scientists who battled not just microbes but also doubtful colleagues and corrupt politics. Meanwhile, much of Western medicine went all-in on antibiotics in the 1940s.
