Jack Canning, a PhD researcher in the Wal-yan Respiratory Centre’s Phage WA team, has made a significant finding in the search for alternative treatments to antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria.
He has identified a novel bacteriophage species - Karil-mokiny-kep-djiraly-karakaata-Wadjak-1, or Karil-mokiny 1 - that targets Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC), a particularly dangerous pathogen for people living with cystic fibrosis (CF).
BCC infections are rare but serious, often leading to poor clinical outcomes and limited treatment options. Traditional antibiotics are frequently ineffective due to high intrinsic AMR and rapid resistance development. Phage therapy, using viruses that infect and kill bacteria, is emerging as a promising alternative, but is limited due to a lack of global biobanks of safe and efficacious BCC-targetting phages
What makes Karil-mokiny 1 stand out is its genomic safety profile. It lacks genes associated with antimicrobial resistance (AMR), virulence, and lysogeny - a lifecycle that can allow phages to integrate into bacterial DNA without killing it. This makes it a strong candidate for therapeutic use.
To find this phage, and hopefully others, Jack’s team has partnered with the Water Corporation to collect wastewater samples, a rich source of microbial diversity. From these, they’ve built a growing biobank of phages, each screened for activity against specific pathogens. The goal is to have a ready supply of safe, targeted phages available for compassionate use under Australia’s STAMP protocol, which allows phage therapy in cases where all other treatments have failed.
With only a handful of BCC-targeting phages sequenced and characterized globally, this discovery fills a critical gap. It contributes to a broader international effort to understand which phages are safe and effective for clinical use.
Jack’s work is part of a larger push to expand the phage library, especially for rare but high-risk pathogens. As more phages are sequenced and classified, the potential for personalised, targeted treatments grows, offering hope to patients with few remaining options.
The Wal-yan Respiratory Centre is a powerhouse partnership, bringing together The Kids Research Institute Australia, Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation and Perth Children’s Hospital.