Recycled Bacteriophage

Title: Recycled Bacteriophage

By: kcasillas

I used materials found in our recycle bin to create the infamous bacteriophage. My inspiration was the viral lytic life cycle of bacteriophages; hijacking host DNA to change and replicate into new bacteriophages. I thought this process was analogous to recycling; using materials purposed for various specific purposes, (because bacteriophage infect specific species), and using them to create a new bacteriophage from existing material. I modeled the recycled phage after a  Myoviridae species, which is a non- enveloped, DNA virus and has been used in the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infectious diseases with phage therapy. My decision to use a recycled breakfast cereal box and a plastic water bottle was based on an article I read about phage therapy in the treatment of gastrointestinal health issues, which found that tolerable doses of the myovirus could selectively promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria while selectively eliminating harmful gut bacteria.