Variations in virus tails may help predict which phages kill more bacterial strains

Bacteriophages—or phages, for short—are viruses that kill bacteria, and scientists have been studying them for decades as a possible solution to antibiotic-resistant infections. But phages are notoriously picky eaters—a phage that can eradicate one bacterial strain is often powerless against others, even if the bacteria are closely related. This means a phage that works for one patient may be useless for the next.

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