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Phages contributed to biology's understanding of life in general and especially at the molecular level. They in addition were key to the development of genetic engineering.
phage is used as vector for transferring beneficial genes or healthy genes in the human body to treat different diseases and for improvimg performance of different organs of body.
Based on its antibaterial property, phage application could be applied to avoid food-borne diseases
recombination techniques used in industrial microbiology
They are used for gene therapy most specifically to deliver some genes to the host.
a type of vires resides insides the bacteria and using the host DNA machinery it replicates it self and finally kill the bacteria so this phages are important in minimizing or maintaining constant the colony of bacteria in GI tract.
Scientists have found a type of virus called a bacteriophage, or simply “phage,” present in great numbers in virtually all mucus samples.
Wherever bacteria reside, you will also find phages, because phages depend on bacteria for their survival. In the above referenced study, lead author and microbiologist Jeremy Barr and colleaguesnoticed there were MANY more phages in mucus than in mucus-free zones, just millimeters away.
For example, in the saliva surrounding human gums, they found about five phages to every one bacterium. But on the mucosal surface of the gum itself, the ratio was closer to40 to one. This spurred the question, “What are these phages doing? Could they be protecting the host?”
Phages specialize in breaking open and killing certain kinds of bacteria, hijacking them in order to replicate. Most phages have hollow heads, which store their DNA and RNA, and tunnel tails designed for binding to the surface of their bacterial targets. According to phages.org, once a phage has attached itself to a bacterium:
“The viral DNA is then injected through the tail into the host cell, where it directs the production of progeny phages, often over a hundred in half an hour. These 'young' phages burst from the host cell (killing it) and infect more bacteria.”
The researchers found evidence that these phages partner with animals and humans to stave off bacterial infections and control the composition of friendly microbes in your body. Like it or not, you and these snot-dwelling viruses have a symbiotic relationship with one another!
(Studied at San Diego State University)
Reference: The study’s findings appear in the May20,2013 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Not Yet discovered, otherwise they kill Bacteria to in our body to some extent.
