Bacteriophages

What was discovered

Viruses that infect and lyse bacteria. D'Hérelle proposed using them as therapy; decades later they became the model organism with which molecular biology was born.

Twort-d'Hérelle priority dispute.

What it led to

• phage therapy (Georgia, Poland; revived in the face of antibiotic resistance)
• the phage group (Delbrück, Luria) and molecular biology
• the Hershey-Chase experiment
• restriction enzymes and CRISPR

Built on

• Filterable virus (Ivanovsky, Beijerinck)1892-1898
• filterable viruses

Made possible

• Phage therapy and the Eliava Institute1923
• Hershey-Chase experiment1952
• Phage display1985
• CRISPR as bacterial adaptive immunity1987-2007
• Wolbachia against dengue (mosquito release in Cairns)2011
• phage therapy
• lambda cloning vectors

📄 Original publication

Links

Sources✓ verified 2026-09-25

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage