planet of the phages

My feature about bacteriophages (viruses infecting bacteria), their chequered history and possible future as antibacterial therapeutics, is in today's issue of Current Biology:

Revived interest in bacteriophages
Current Biology, Volume 21, Issue 8, R267-R270, 26 April 2011

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.04.008

Summary and FREE access to pdf file

Among other things, I learned from the research for this story that there are a lot more phages on our planet than all other kinds of living things, so we cellular life forms really are a minority living on he planet of the phages ...




A horse chestnut tree in Headington Hill Park - these trees are infected by bacteria, which are in turn infected by phages ...