Definitely! I think that further phage genomic sequencing can occur to determine what some of the genes are and how they function. Then genetic alteration could further conclude how these phages can be used. Phage do only infect bacterial cells, normal virus’s infect human cells. There are dangers however because temperate phage can transfer bacterial DNA to other bacteria which could be an issue in spreading certain genes.
If I had another time, I would use more DNA when creating the dilutions for PCR. I would also test the L cluster and others in order to further characterize this phage into a cluster.
Clusters are essentially groupings that are useful in determining phage(s) with similar characteristics. We use the alphabet to showcase these clusters. Phage that are in the same cluster have more that 50% the same DNA, sub clusters are closer to 75% geneticc similarity.
Phage with a different shape of the capsid head hasn’t been directly determined yet. But it has been hypothesized that phage with a circular head are known to undergo lysogey while those with a more isohedral head are generally lytic.
curesymposium.org 
This is really cool! Do you think there are other features of phage that could be genetically altered for therapeutic use?
LikeLike
Definitely! I think that further phage genomic sequencing can occur to determine what some of the genes are and how they function. Then genetic alteration could further conclude how these phages can be used. Phage do only infect bacterial cells, normal virus’s infect human cells. There are dangers however because temperate phage can transfer bacterial DNA to other bacteria which could be an issue in spreading certain genes.
LikeLike
If you had more time, what would you have done differently, especially with the PCR?
LikeLike
If I had another time, I would use more DNA when creating the dilutions for PCR. I would also test the L cluster and others in order to further characterize this phage into a cluster.
LikeLike
What are the clusters that characterize a phage?
LikeLike
Clusters are essentially groupings that are useful in determining phage(s) with similar characteristics. We use the alphabet to showcase these clusters. Phage that are in the same cluster have more that 50% the same DNA, sub clusters are closer to 75% geneticc similarity.
LikeLike
Does the phage having a circular head change how the phage acts?
LikeLike
Phage with a different shape of the capsid head hasn’t been directly determined yet. But it has been hypothesized that phage with a circular head are known to undergo lysogey while those with a more isohedral head are generally lytic.
LikeLike