Harnessing Phages: Discovery, Design, and Deployment
A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbial Biotechnology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 77
Special Issue Editors
Interests: bacteriophage; synthetic biology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Bacteriophages (phages), the viruses that infect bacteria, continue to captivate interest across diverse scientific disciplines. With applications spanning medicine, agriculture, environmental microbiology, food safety, and synthetic biology, phages are increasingly recognized as versatile tools in both fundamental research and translational science.
This Special Issue invites original research articles and reviews that advance our understanding of phage biology and its multifaceted applications. Submissions focusing on the isolation and characterization of novel phages—particularly those targeting understudied bacterial hosts—are especially encouraged. Insights into temperate phage biology, lysogeny, and decision-making mechanisms are also welcome, given their growing relevance in synthetic biology and regulatory circuit design.
While phage therapy remains a cornerstone, this issue also seeks to highlight alternative applications of phages in agriculture, aquaculture, veterinary medicine, and food industry settings. In this context, research into anti-biofilm activity, phage–biofilm interactions, and phage-derived enzymes is particularly relevant.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- Novel methodologies for phage discovery, quantification, or imaging;
- Phage–host interactions and co-evolutionary dynamics;
- Phage engineering and directed evolution;
- Use of temperate phages in gene regulation or delivery;
- Biofilm targeting strategies using phages or phage components.
Through this collection, I aim to showcase both fundamental insights and translational advances that will shape the future of bacteriophage research.
We look forward to your contributions.
Dr. Keith E. Shearwin
Dr. Nan Hao
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- bacteriophage
- phage biology
- phage therapy
- temperate phages
- phage engineering
- host–phage interactions
- biofilms
- antimicrobial resistance
- synthetic biology
- phage discovery
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