Fighting Bacteria with Viruses

Guest: Julianne H. Grose, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, BYU Apple and pear orchard growers suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in losses every year because of a disease called fire blight. First, oozing cankers develop on the tree branches and leave streaks that darken to look like the branch has been licked by fire. Infected leaves and blossoms blacken and shrivel, too, like they’ve been burned. The name “fire blight” is apt, though it’s not caused by extreme heat. It’s actually caused by bacteria. BYU microbiologist Julianne Grose has developed a new way of treating it using viruses that eat bacteria.