apparently bacteriophages—or “phages”—are living medicines: viruses that devour bacteria, will be our only hope when Antibiotics Fail. Not if when. This one awe inspiring and terrifying at the same time. This is not only eye opening but informative as well.

Beautifully written and completely fascinating, focusing around the history and lives of the people involved in researching phages. Zeldovich is an excellent science communicator as well. I've already read two books about phages and wasn't sure how much of a new perspective this one could bring but it really delivers. It has resounding implications for the future as well. Excellent read!

In the span of a few days of reading this nonfiction book, I went from knowing nothing about the existence of phages to reading about it AND in a car ride with a fifteen year old who is doing research ABOUT phages. Who knew? Of course, history concludes by Zeldovich's accounts that no one really wanted to know and poo pooed the scientists who discovered this living virus that can kill bacteria.

Well, it's not going anywhere because it is effective. There is one pause for concern, which is brought up but the book is amazingly sensitive to the politics of scientific discovery, research, collaboration, and of course about the money involved. Zeldovich introduces the lifesaving effectiveness of phages and then dives into the lives and history of the discovery and those that discovered it before circling back to the importance of using it to our full capacity since antibiotics are seemingly running their course and are not able to effectively manage issues because there are too many resistant.

It relies on the science, not talking down to readers which means that some of the presented material is out of my league, however I liked being a seat at the table to learning about this. It feels like I got smarter by reading this science story. Not only coming out of the pandemic, is this an important book but also it felt a little like reading a "race to space" type science and politics showdown. I know TWO people I'm going to immediately recommend it to and of course buy a copy for my HS library.

Fascinating description and history of phage research and use in addition to antibiotics. would like more info on current use of phages to combat bacterial diseases that have become resistent to available antibiotics, will reccomend to all my medical colleages.

As a pulmonary pharmacist who has had patients pursue bacteriophage therapy for treatment of resistant infections, either via clinical trials or international procurement, I was excited to read this book. Phage therapy sounds like science fiction, and I admit that I have been skeptical (perhaps cautious is a better term) of embracing its applications. Much of this surrounds the almost secretive nature of how page therapy came to be, not necessarily that it was purposefully kept secret, but that language barriers and publishing biases prevented the widespread dissemination of information to the US. But, there was really so much more at play. This is a prime example of how politicians and governmental leaders have stymied science for the sake of political gain over the years, and particularly during the Cold War. It is also a story of caution. While likely generally safe, it does not mean that regulation which is mean to ensure quality products and safety can be abandoned for expediency for the masses. It is good to see that phage therapy is gaining traction in the US and that creative ways to evaluate these therapies with scientific rigor and manufacturing standards can be accomplished if we put our smart heads and our funding together and think creatively.

This book was well written, extensively researched, and presented in a way that was both interesting and scientifically valid. Reading almost like a true crime novel, you are reminded that these were/are real people discovering something special and doing their best to cure disease amidst political upheaval, wars, fascism, political imprisonment, and economic disaster. Just think where we might have been if WWII had never happened or the Cold War was not so chilly or scientists weren't imprisoned and executed along the way. 100 years into phage therapy, and we are just beginning to imagine its potential in the West. Antimicrobial resistance, superbugs, cystic fibrosis, lung transplantation, immunocompromised hosts, maternal and infant mortality... there is something for everyone in health care within these pages. A definite must read for those with an interest in infectious diseases.

Medical science has convinced us that viruses are dangerous. Between influenza, shingles, COVID-19, hepatitis, HIV, polio, and rabies we fear these diseases that can cause severe illness and even death. However, in The Living Medicine author Lina Zeldovich introduces us to viruses that are our friends.
Miss Zeldovich wrote an engaging history of bacteriophages, viruses that attack bacteria. Bacteriophages live with us in our bodies, and while harmless to us, they protect us from harmful bacteria. Bacteriophages function like natural antibiotics. And they are now being used against bacteria that have become antibiotic-resistant, a significant problem that is increasing in frequency.
But The Living Medicine is not just a story of viruses or bacteria, but of the people who discovered and developed them into clinically useful entities. And the story is not just about their professional work, but their private lives and the political background of the countries where they lived and worked.
Miss Zeldovich begins in Europe with two scientists who first worked with bacteriophages, Felix d’Herelle from France and his friend George Eliava from Georgia. They lived in Europe in the early 20th century before the discovery of antibiotics.
She weaves the story as personal lives intersected with their professional lives amid the turmoil of Europe through the World Wars and their aftermath. Their work was often interrupted and disrupted by professional opposition and government suppression. These scientists risked their fortunes, families, and lives to pursue knowledge.
She continues to introduce us to the subsequent scientists who continued to work with phages, work that continues today. We learn the stories of patients whose lives were saved by phage therapy when their infections proved to be antibiotic resistant.
The casual reader may not appreciate the detailed descriptions of the scientific work involved in developing phage therapy. After reading about Eliava and d’Herelle, I found the stories about the subsequent research less engaging.
I think the author could have written two separate books rather than putting it all into one volume, which made it lengthy at 15 chapters and 320 pages in the print version.
This book prompted me to explore bacteriophages further, a subject I knew medical school but had not read about recently. It is a reminder that there is never a last word in science, but always something new to learn.

One word Lina knew from experience was the Russian word for dysentery, which, years afterward, pointed her to the possibilities of “biological entities…[that] have been feeding on bacteria for eons, so they are better equipped than our pharmaceutical industry to keep up with bacterial evolution.” Yet, as Lina discovers, making phages part of the American pharmacopoeia is easier said than done: In Europe and the United States they’re interdicted, for creating phages means manipulating the stuff that otherwise winds up in sewage treatment plants. Still, it’s fascinating to learn of free-floating bacteria in the Ganges River (which one suspects would be an undesirable place to take a swim) that in untreated water “dissolved cholera vibrions”; just so, it’s sobering to hear that the potentially deadly MRSA bacteria, so common in American hospitals, can be killed by viruses in short order thanks to advances made in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. In a well-written book that ranges widely through scientific history, marked by episodes of suppression on the part of both the Soviet authorities and the American medical and pharmaceutical establishments,Lina makes a convincing case for phages helping us all in the future. It is a microbiological detective story, with the promise of magic bullets to come.

Are you familiar with bacteriophages? I read a fair amount of pop science books, yet I’ve never heard of bacteriophages or phages. This book was a revelation surrounded by some of the best pop science/history writing I’ve encountered recently.

One reviewer on Goodreads points out how this book really buries the lede by first walking through decades of Soviet Georgian medical research. They are absolutely right, but it’s still a fascinating history that connects to politics, some wacky personalities, and more.

I also appreciated the balance. The book, while being enthusiastic about phages, still addresses their faults. They aren’t a solution to everything, but they’re a very compelling part of a solution given increasing antibiotic resistance.

The Living Medicine by Lina Zeldovich is a deeply thought-provoking exploration of traditional healing practices and the ways in which ancient knowledge intersects with modern medicine. Zeldovich weaves together cultural history, personal anecdotes, and scientific inquiry to shed light on the healing wisdom passed down through generations, particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia. Her writing is engaging and thoughtful, highlighting the relevance of these ancient practices in a world increasingly focused on pharmaceutical solutions. The book challenges readers to consider the value of natural, holistic approaches to health and wellness, all while questioning the over-reliance on modern medical systems. The Living Medicine is an eye-opening and enriching read for those interested in alternative medicine, cultural history, and the balance between tradition and modernity in healthcare.

This erred a little more into science history than I was expecting - I thought it would be more focused on the actual science. I ended up pretty bored for the first seven or eight chapters. Once the actual science started being discussed, though, I was all in!

This nonfiction book covers some of the history of the use of bacteriophage to treat infections that antibiotics fail to treat. It also touches on some current day uses of phage, and potential future uses.

While I did learn a lot about the history of bacteriophage from this book, I had some issues trusting the writer. In a couple of spots, information is simplified to a point where it is no longer representative of truth, which forced me to question everything the author presented as fact. I also found the sections dealing with current uses and potential future uses of bacteriophage to be underdeveloped. I was able to follow most of it (I am a microbiologist), but other readers might not be able to.

This was a fascinating look at the history of viruses that attack bacteria, or bacteriophages, and their use in the fight against antibiotic resistant super bugs. There is a well researched book about the history of the scientists and science that discovered and studied phages from 1917 to today. It also talks a lot about the politics and approvals that have caused the US to be slow to adopting this type of remedy which I found fascinating. I recommend this book for those that enjoy history, medicine or medical history.

"Four people die every hour from an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection in the United States."

I vaguely remember many years ago hearing someone argue that American medicine wasn't really so great and that our former enemy - the Soviet Union - was actually more advanced because they had medicines we didn't. At the time I'd never heard of bacteriophages (I don't even recall if the name was mentioned) but the smugness in the argument was enough to put me off.

Lina Zeldovich, whose parents were courageous enough "to dissent in the dictatorial Soviet state" (from the dedication), tells us the history of research on "phages," which are viruses that naturally prey upon bacteria. The narrative is heavy on the history of Soviet Georgia and especially Giorgi Eliava and Frenchman Felix d'Herelle, two who independently discovered that their samples of bacteria were being destroyed by something they couldn't see. Although most of their colleagues ridiculed their findings, they later collaborated and established an institute in Georgia (in the USSR) to produce phages.

While Zeldovich is an advocate of phages, she's not as blind to history as my friend was. We read of the fickle favor the Soviets had for Eliava and his phages, as both he and his wife were executed in Stalin's purges, and funding for the institute was at the mercy of self-serving Soviet bureaucrats. But in a world where bacterial infections are increasingly becoming antibiotic-resistant, phages have finally found champions in the United States and a few modern companies are trying to develop phages that will satisfy the stringent rules of the FDA. She also discusses the significance of a memoir I read a few years ago, The Perfect Predator, which opened minds and doors to the potential of phages.

This is a very well-researched book on the history of phages. That history might be a bit heavy for some readers, but I felt Zeldovich did a great job while also conveying the challenges faced by researchers trying to produce phages. And hopefully the time will soon come that phages become more common in our medicines. (I received an advance digital copy of the book from the publisher.)

Without trying, I’ve recently come across numerous written and audio media about antibiotic-resistant infections. Nothing that I’ve read/heard has offered a suggestion about what we might turn to as antibiotic resistance grows. Then this book appeared on NetGalley, and I felt compelled to request it.

The Living Medicine is phages. Once a rising star, talk of them all but disappeared with the rise of antibiotic therapy. I found it very interesting that the use of phages was essentially discontinued in America right around the same time that antibiotic resistance became a problem. I can’t imagine that today’s physicians even know much about them.

The author, Lina Zeldovich, has accomplished something that’s tough to do in nonfiction. The writing is engaging and packed full of information. I learned a lot about the FDA and its approval process, bacteria in general, disease, cures/treatments, drugs and research. Perhaps none of that sounds fun on its own, but the writing easily drew me in and kept me interested.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting access to a digital ARC in response to my request.

"The Living Medicine" by Lina Zeldovich is an exploration of the history, near-oblivion, and reemergence of phages, the “living medicine” that offers a promising solution to antibiotic-resistant infections. Phages—viruses that target and destroy bacteria—were discovered over a century ago and showed early promise in treating diseases like cholera and dysentery. However, political tensions, notably during Stalin’s reign and the rise of antibiotics in the West, led to their relegation to the fringes of medical science. Zeldovich chronicles the history of phage research, particularly the work done in Soviet Georgia, shedding light on the tenacity and isolation of the scientists who believed in phages’ potential when the world seemed to have turned its back.

While the historical sections detail the lives and struggles of phage researchers, much of this background may feel overly detailed for general readers, especially those eager to get to the modern implications. And, I'll be honest, I was rolling my eyes when she recounted how she supposedly took the initiative to learn about phages on her own at age 5, and other similar instances of mythologizing the genius of intrepid phage scientists. But however rose-colored the glasses, the narrative serves as a reminder of how scientific progress can be shaped by cultural and political forces—and sometimes at great human cost.

For today’s reader, Zeldovich provides an accessible understanding of how phages operate, with lytic phages acting as the real warriors against bacteria. Given the rise of antibiotic resistance, phages present a unique hope for modern medicine. However, they are not a straightforward solution: unlike antibiotics, phages require customization for each infection, making them more challenging to commercialize. "The Living Medicine" is both a historical account and a call to consider alternative approaches in the ongoing battle against superbugs—a timely read as we look toward new-old solutions for global health challenges.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

So what is a living medicine? And why would you want to take it? In this title, it is a phage or more properly a bacteriophage which is a virus that attacks specific bacteria. They are found anywhere there is bacteria and they "eat" that bacteria and leave other bacteria alone. Plus they can work when antibiotics fail. That is part of the point Lina Zeldovich is making in The Living Medicine, part medical discovery, part historical account and part biography.

Lina Zeldovich opens the book with a description of the present day and the problem with antibiotic resistant bacteria. She then jumps back to World War I and the search for cures to infectious diseases such as dysentery, cholera, and typhus. They had vaccines, but those took time to prepare. Giorgi Eliava was a doctor in Georgia (the country) who was working on cholera in Tbilisi when he accidentily discovered phages that were eating cholera bacteria in the samples he was testing, not that his microscope was powerful enough to see them, but he could see the results. Around the same time Felix d'Herelle at the Pasteur Institute in Paris encountered similar action in regard to dysentery. After the war Eliaya and d'Herelle got together in Paris and worked on refining the process of manufacturing phages that would kill various infectious diseases. In the 1920's and 1930's they worked on creating institutes in Tbilisi (Soviet Republic of Georgia) and Paris. Other folks started their own businesses doing the same in other parts of the world. But capitalism killed phages in the US since there was no governmental regulation and the public did not trust the manufactures. In the Soviet Union, phage research continued under government scrutiny and sort of thrived. Phages played a part in saving Stalingrad from the German invasion by preventing a cholera outbreak. But then there came the end of the Soviet Union and disintegration of many institutions which included the library of phages collected from all over the Soviet Union. But with the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria, scientists and the FDA in the United States are more willing to try other means. So do not be surprised if you get treated with phages in the near future.

If you are looking for an engaging book dealing with history, science, and medicine, pick up Lina Zeldovich's The Living Medicine! Your time will be rewarded!

Thanks Netgalley and ST. Martin's Press for the chance to read this title

As a nurse I find this book about living bacteria or "phages" very fascinating and anyone fascinated with medicine, history, and microbiology would as well. It is clear the author spent a good bit of time researching the topic in addition to making sure the scientist's stories were accurate as they dedicated their life's work to this project. Though there are some terms that maybe difficult for non-medical people, it doesn't take away from the significance of the book.
By reading this book, one can appreciate the benefits of bacteria, how phages can kill bad bacteria to control the spread of infection and how this could shape the future of our world.

‘The Living Medicine’ written by Lina Zeldovich is an informative and interesting book about phages, a lifesaving cure nearly lost. This book is a well written exploration into bacteriophages and their uses.

I loved reading this book and learning more about the science behind bacteriophages and how they can benefit us when antibiotics fail. Lina does a wonderful job of explaining bacteriophages are viruses that specifically infect bacteria. This discovery in the early 1900’s was almost lost in the 1990s in the Georgian Civil War where the scientists worked to save whatever phage cultures they could. Lina expresses that there is much more research to be conducted to further understand the amazing benefits and opportunities that bacteriophages may be able to assist with in the future.

The mix of history with biology is truly captivating and keeps the reading moving through the case.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #StMartin’sPress for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for a review. All opinions and thoughts are those of my own. #LivingMedicine #TheLivingMedicineBook #LinaZeldovich

I’ve known a little about phages for a while but now I know a lot more about them and their story. Overlooked for years, phages may be an answer to the insidious decline of antibiotics’ effectiveness due to overuse. Zeldovich does an excellent job of bringing this important story to life.

The Living Medicine by Lina Zeldovich is a very detailed and well researched read.
This book is extremely informative yet easy to understand.
An interesting story of the scientists behind a long-forgotten and life-saving cure: the healing viruses that can conquer antibiotic resistant bacterial infections. 


Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!