• Bacteriophages are natural viruses: they can be found anywhere in our environment, our skin, in our intestinal tract, soil, water, etc.
• They ONLY target bacteria
• They are harmless to eukaryote organisms such as humans, animals, fishes, plants, insects, algae’s, etc.
• They are highly specific toward a bacterial species and even to strains from that species
• When they recognize their bacterial target, they attach to its outer membrane, inject their genetic material inside and reproduce in their host to make new phages that can get out and repeat the same cycle
• The lytic phages, those we are interested in, kill properly the host bacteria as their progeny leave

• Natural therapy to control human or animal bacterial infections (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus...)
• Efficient treatment against bacteria that evolved resistance to antibiotics (examples of Gram négative resistance : BLSE; Gram positive resistance : MRSA...)
• Diagnostic for industrial and medical applications
• Biosecurity and biodefence to combat bioterrorism
• Disinfection of surfaces, food products…

Bacteriophage reproduction

Download the reproduction cycle of lytic versus lysogenic phages