Viruses of Microbes 2018 – Wrocław, Poland

The International Society of Microorganisms held its 5^th Viruses of Microbes (VoM) meeting in Wrocław, Poland (spelt Wrocław and pronounced “Vro-tz-wav” as quickly learnt by Lucy when she thought she might be on board the wrong flight!)

The 5-day conference had an impressive turnout with over 500 attendees present, including researchers and industry representatives. We [Carola (WIMR, NSW), Bethany (WIMR, NSW) and Lucy (UWA, WA)] were among a total of 9 people representing the bacteriophage research contingent from Australia and New Zealand. Topics covered in varied sessions ranged from biological mechanisms of viral DNA packaging to phage therapy applications (see link to ‘VoM Conference Proceedings').

Highlights: Sessions

The main topics covered during this meeting were: bacteriophage genomes bioinformatic analysis and annotation (see abstracts for Day 1, Preconference Workshops and for Day 4, Session 9); receptor binding strategies, particularly in bacteriophages of Gram-negative bacteria (see abstracts Day 2, Session 1 and Day 3, Session5), and, of course, bacteriophage applications both in human therapy (Day 3, Sessions 7 and 8) and in other ‘market’ areas (Day 5). On Day 3, in Sessions 5 and 6 some novel bioengineering strategies were presented - phage lysin applications were discussed by D. Nelson (USA) and others; V.B. Rao (USA) explained how the DNA packaging ability of tailed phages could be exploited as a biomedical tool for genetic and cellular therapies. Day 4 was more diverse and included talks on archeal viruses and cyanophages as well as presentations on the ecology of phages.

Highlights: Discussion panel
A discussion panel including Prof L. Debarbieux (Insitut Pasteur, France), Prof E. Kutter (Evergreen State College, US), Prof J.P. Pirnay (Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Belgium), Dr M. Kutateladze (Eliava institute, Georgia), Dr J. Gabard (Pherecydes Pharma, France)and Prof H. Brussow (KU Leuven University, Belgium), discussed the current challenges in the implementation of human phage therapy with some heated debate particularly in relation to the public release (imminent, The Lancet ID) of results from the ‘failed’ Phagoburn trial (J. Gabard first public disclosure of negative data occurred at this meeting).

Highlights: New phage initiatives

Prof. K. Moelling (University of Zürich, Switzerland) promoted a call for participation to a petition to EU governments in support of the clinical implementation of phage therapy (http://www.phage-initiative.org/). Another initiative promoted at the meeting was that of ‘The Phage Directory’ founded by Dr. J. Sacher and J. Zheng, who are building a collective network of available phages “to serve as a searchable resource and alert service to help patient advocates find phage researchers who are willing to send phages to a patient in need, on an individual, on-demand basis” (https://asmallerflea.org/2017/11/24/phage-directory-phage-directory-an-origin-story/).

Student and ECR assistance

This meeting offered excellent support for students and young researchers through travel and accommodation grants (of which our Lucy was a deserving recipient).

The meeting was a relaxed and friendly forum for open discussion and networking opportunities with both research peers and company representatives. Our enthusiasm in promoting our nascent Aussie phage research community was met with encouragement and support.

To follow the twitter action during the conference search for “#EMBOvirus2018” and scroll through.

Upcoming EU meetings:

§  Phages in Bordeaux  - September 24^th – 25^th, 2018 in France.

§  Bacteriophages: theoretical and practical aspects of their application in medicine, veterinary and food – September 24-26^th, 2018 in Russia.

Post written by: Carola Venturini & Lucy Furfaro