Synthetic biology is an emerging field which involves the engineering of biological organisms. One of the first applications has been developed by a team of researchers from the MIT and Boston University who built viruses to combat harmful ‘biofilms.’ These bacteriophages — or phages — could soon be used to destroy bacterial biofilms in hard to reach places such as the insides of food processing machines. These phages are not allowed for use in humans in the U.S., but they could be approved for future phage-containing drugs for use in livestock.

Links: Primidi, ZDNet