COMICR-488; NO OF PAGES 12 n

dcompelling need to develop totally new classes of anti-bacterial agents, ones that cannot be thwarted by the same gene products that render bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Phage therapy represents such a ‘new ’ class. Phages (bac-teriophages) are viruses that invade bacterial cells; they are ubiquitous, obligate parasites that are highly specific to their host. Phages have been proposed as natural antimi-crobial agents to fight bacterial infections in humans, in animals, or in crops of agricultural importance as well as for humans came in 1921 from Richard Bruynoghe and Joseph Maisin, who used bacteriophages to treat a sta-phylococcal skin disease. d’Hérelle and others continued the studies on phage therapy and in addition, several companies started in the 1930s the commercialization of phages against various bacterial pathogens. At this time, d’Hérelle established phage therapy centers in several countries, including the US, France, and Georgia [6]. During World War II the German and Soviet armies use