Bacteriophage λ is one of the most important model organisms but it's often omitted from the list, especially if the list has been written by anyone under 40.Hop on over to The Evolutionary Biologist and read up on What has phage lambda ever done for us?. I mentioned in the comments that it's possible to create an entire course on the principles of molecular biology based on bacteriophage λ. That may be a bit of an exaggeration ... but not by much.
I believe strongly that you can't teach a course on developmental biology, for example, without describing the genetic switch in λ.
Today's students know nothing about the valuable contributions made by the phage group. That's a shame because it illustrates science in one of its purist moments. You shouldn't be allowed to graduate if you don't know the real reason why Max Delbrück and Salvador Luria got Nobel Prizes.
Bacteriophage λ is one of the most important model organisms
ReplyDeleteAll questions of importance aside, is it proper to refer to a phage as an "organism"?
Organism? I just watched a Lysol commercial that claimed to "kill viruses where they live" so they must be organisms. I have been looking for a movie poster sized em scan of a T4 bacteriophage, that would be cool!
ReplyDeletecheers from st louis and good luck to everyone as semesters wind down.
I watched a presentation today in which viruses were referred to as species. Any opinions on that designation?
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