A hundred years of research on bacteriophages

From April 24 to 26, 2017, the Institut Pasteur marked the centenary of research into bacteriophages. The principle of the existence of bacteriophages was put forward independently by two scientists, Britain's Frederick Twort in 1915 and French Canadian Félix d'Hérelle in 1917. It was d'Hérelle who gave them the name bacteriophages in 1917. This anniversary provided an opportunity to look back at the career of Félix d'Hérelle, a Pasteurian scientist who dedicated much of his life to studying these bacterial viruses. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of the first antibacterial therapy, known as "phage therapy".

Find out more (in french)