Phage Therapy now and then: Continuing Epistemic Issues in the Development of a 'Misfit' Therapy

In this intervention, we discuss phage therapy, the use of bacteriophage viruses to cure bacterial infection. This century-old medical practice has recently been the object of increased attention, as a potential help to fight the increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance. We propose to analyze and compare the epistemic obstacles to the development of phage therapy in both periods of widespread interest: the 1920s-1940s initial period of interest about the treatment and the contemporary (1990s-now) renewal of interest in the therapy. In brief, our aim is to see how the failed past attempt to develop phage therapy can inform the ongoing contemporary attempt, and what the continuing issues facing this “misfit therapy” tell us, more generally, about medical practice