Question

What is the use of bacteriophages in drug delivery for hiv/cancer?

Answer 1

Bacteriophages (or phages), small viruses of about 20–200 nm in size, are probably the most ancient and ubiquitous existing organisms on Earth. They date back 3 billion years, and they specifically infect bacteria to replicate, therefore playing an important role in maintaining the equilibrium of every ecosystem where bacteria exist [1].

Despite controversy over claims for priority, bacteriophage discovery is independently attributed to both F.W. Twort (1915) and to F. H. d'Herelle (1917) [2–4]. The former observed a peculiar in vitro transformation of micrococcus colonies, “plaques or rings grew and the disease could be transferred through simple contact between colonies.” In 1917, at Pasteur Institute in Paris, researcher d'Herelle discovered an infective agent able to selectively destroy cultures of Shigella dysenteriaebacteria. The microorganism responsible for that lysis was called “bacteriophage,” coined by the combination of bacteria and the Greek phagein, which means devour