Bacteria are everywhere in our lives.
Bacterial diseases,
as a common crop disease,
bring devastating blows to agricultural production every year.
Taking tomatoes as an example,
bacterial spot disease has caused a 40% drop in yield in China and other regions alone.
Rice, pepper, and other plants
that are essential to our lives and are on the table will be affected.
Numerous problems have emerged
during their use of traditional chemical pesticides :
We noticed that
there is a virus in nature that specifically attacks bacteria - bacteriophage.
However,
natural bacteriophages may reproduce
indefinitely in the environment, posing a risk of
getting out of control.
Moreover,
the isolation and purification process of natural
bacteriophages is very lengthy,
and bacterial diseases are often caused by a
variety of pathogens, so the therapeutic effects of
natural bacteriophages are unstable.
To make matters worse,
bacteria evolve phage resistance,
which renders natural phages ineffective in killing pathogens.
We modify phage particles so that they can kill pathogens
efficiently and in a controlled manner?
(Click the capital letter(s) to find details)
PhAgri is not only a smart pesticide,
but also an efficient delivery platform.
Harmful bacteria such as Salmonella are widely present
in the intestines of animals.
PhAgri can directly kill a variety of harmful bacteria
protecting animal health without a high level of
antibiotic residues in the meat consumed by humans.
At last,
we crossed the boundary between imitation and creation
— from observing life to synthesizing it!
