RESUMO
Nontuberculous mycobacteria(NTM) diseases have become an important global public health problem attracting more and more attention because of its increasing morbidity. Mycobacteria show intrinsic and acquired resistance to multiple antibiotics, leading to higher difficulty and longer duration of treatment, and more uncertain prognosis than tuberculosis due to limited therapeutic measures. Bacterial phages are viruses that kill bacteria specifically, phage therapy for bacterial infection has been used for almost one century, now become a hot spot. This article reviews the biological characteristics, gene engineering of mycobacteriophages and its clinical applications; also discusses the existing problems in treatments of NTM with bacteriophages.