1. Describe the role that locusts, dysentery, and war had in the discovery of bacteriophage

• Locusts, dysentery, and especially WWI played an essential role in the discovery of bacteriophage. Due to WWI, disease outbreaks and vaccines were among the most necessary problems that needed to be answered. Dysentery, an infection of the colon, was running rampant in the ranks of troops. Felix D’Herelle, a Montreal-born, Paris-raised scientist was asked to investigate the outbreak of dysentery and “fix” it if possible. Prior to the war, D’Herelle first discovered bacteriophage (meaning at the expense of bacteria) when studying sick locusts. There were clear plaques that appeared in his Petri dishes when growing bacteria, and then linked the same appearance of plaques when examining bacteria found in the feces of sick soldiers, D’Herelle then tested his hypothesis on a sick patient with dysentery by using the patient’s stool to extract the bacteria and bacteriophage from. The success of the experiment was applauded and D’Herelle published a paper on bacteriophages in 1917.

2. Discuss the characteristics of d’Herelle that led him to be a successful scientist. How did he compare to Georgi Eliava? What happened to the Eliava’s?

• As a self-taught scientist, d’Herelle was passionate about the field of science and would not give up on any idea that he would think of. Any problem or obstacle that he encountered, d’Herelle countered with scientific reasoning and experimentation. These characteristics ended up helping d’Herelle by opening up research opportunities for him, such as in the Soviet Union (USSR). Georgi Eliava was a bacteriologist from the Soviet Republic of Georgia that did research alongside d’Herelle. Eliava was described as charming and laid back, while d’Herelle was prickly and businesslike, seemingly counters of each other. Both came from privileged backgrounds and both invested their entire lives to science and the expansion of the known frontier. Eventually, the Eliava’s were executed by Stalin in labor camps.

3. Discuss the influence war and politics had on the spread of phage therapy

• War was one of the main driving forces that allowed for the discovery and usage of bacteriophage in medicine. If dysentery hadn’t run rampant during WWI, d’Herelle wouldn’t have been able to make the connection between his locus research and the plaques discovered when examining patients with dysentery. Due to this discovery, d’Herelle was able to publish papers and “start” the research on bacteriophage therapy (Not named that during the time period). Politics played a huge role in the spread of phage therapy in that the different countries all flocked to start research on bacteriophages, which resulted in the attraction and “migration” of many intellectual minds to different countries. In the specific example of the USSR, Stalin wanted to establish and accelerate the research of bacteriophage, which resulted in the establishment of the research facility in Georgia.

4. What are some of the reasons that the spread of phage therapy failed?

• One of the major reasons why phage therapy failed was the development and research of antibiotics. Sulfa pills and Penicillium developed and instantly took over the scientific world heading as they were “more simple in administration” and had promising results. Bacteriophage research was commonly tested without control groups and were tested on self-limiting conditions, which resulted in mixed results or results that had no comparison to. There was further research on the use of bacteriophage with penicillin, but did not catch on. A lack on complete understanding of bacteriophages also contributed to the failure of phage research.

5. How did the physicists Delbruck and Luria end up as part of the Phage Group? What contributions did they make to phage biology? Why did phage biology die out in the 70’s?

• Delbruck, an astronomy student living in Berlin, and Luria, an Italian-Jewish medical student living in Turin (At the time) were both scientists who ended up planting the seeds of what would become the Phage Group, which was a loose collection of scientists in diverse fields who believed that bacteriophages constituted he biological equivalent of hydrogen atoms; the smallest and simplest life forms. The group ended up finding the structure/physiology of bacteriophage, as well as determining it was DNA, not protein that was the genetic material. They also co-discovered the replication mechanism of bacteriophages. However in the 70’s, Phage Group and bacteriophage research died out due to research on human and animal cells that were easier to research (With the technology at that time).