WeitzGroup@GeorgiaTech

Bacteriophage (bacterial viruses) were heralded as
revolutionary therapeutic agents soon after the
discovery by Félix d’Herelle in 1917 of an “invisible
microbe” capable of lysing bacteria.1 Bacteriophage
appeared to be effi cient killers of their bacterial hosts—
we now know that their life history is far more complex
than fi rst assumed2—and so the eff ort to use phage as
curatives or prophylaxis spread quickly to research
institutes in Europe, North America, and Asia.3 d’Herelle
himself spearheaded many of these eff orts, the most
famous of which was the initiation of an extensive
campaign to use phage in the treatment and prevention
of cholera in colonial India. The authors of one such
study4 conclude by noting that “the results establish
suffi cient probability in favour of a signifi cant eff ect of
the administration of bacteriophage to form a basis of
practical policy in the treatment and prevention of
cholera in villages”.