Photo of Bacteriophage T4 – a virus that infects the e.coli bacteria. Taken with an electron microscope.

August 1963, Rochester, NY. Second-year graduate student Betty Kutter fell in love with a bacteria-eating bug. It happened like this: a visiting professor showed her a picture, similar to the one seen here, (left), of a virus that consumes bacteria. He captured Betty’s imagination with the comment that when we understand phage, we will understand the essence of life. Betty was hooked.

Fifty years later, faculty member emerita Betty Kutter works within an international community of scientists, researchers and physicians, all focused on the study of and uses for phage.

This August 4-9, about 200 people from 35 countries will be on the Evergreen campus for the 20th Biennial Evergreen International Phage Meeting.  They will share research, form working partnerships and track the future of phage. One possibility, using phage as an naturally occurring antibiotic. Other applications already in use for this miraculous virus:

Phage fights Listeria in Agriculture in the Netherlands
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2012/05/13/electricity-from-viruses/

Betty came to Evergreen in 1972 in the second round of faculty hires at the new college.  In 1993, she and her scientific team completed the sequencing of the phage genome. Today in the international phage community, Betty is royalty, known for her seminal research and her and tireless work with physicians around the world to optimize the medical possibilities of phage. Back home at Evergreen, Betty evinces a joyous scientific evangelizing spirit. It’s that spirit that has made her an inspirational educator who has pointed countless students toward careers in scientific inquiry.

Fun phage facts:
There are 168,904 “letters” in the genome of the bacteria phage.
The name phage comes from the Greek “phagos” which means “to eat.”