Unlike Ebola or the new coronavirus that’s currently making headlines, these particular viruses don’t cause disease in humans. They’re part of a group known as phages, which infect and kill bacteria.
This takeover involves an unorthodox use of CRISPR. Long before humans discovered CRISPR and used it to edit DNA, bacteria invented it as a way of defending themselves against viruses.
Beyond that, much of what we know about how genes work, and many technologies for altering and cloning said genes, came about through studying a phage called lambda. “Intensive research on phages founded the field of modern molecular biology,”
Fascinating read! @edyong209
More virus talk. These ones might actually be good though! Endlessly fascinating either way.