What is a harmless bacteriophage?

Answer 1

First I'll answer what a bacteriophage is. A bacteriophage is a type of virus that infects a bacterium. These phages can be either virulent or temperate. Virulent phages are capable of infecting and even killing the bacterium it has infected. Temperate phages usually do not cause harm. Its DNA is incorporated into the bacterium's DNA creating what is called a prophage. I don't really know what you are looking for when it comes to "harmless". A harmless phage is one that either only infects a specific bacteria and not the cells of say a human. This is called phage therapy. It is used for bacterial infections in human. The phages kill the bacteria but doesn't infect the human cells. It used to be big in the former Soviet Union but has kind of fell off. I do believe that it is starting to pick up momentum again however. The second thing i guess a harmless phage would mean is the temperate phage that does not harm the bacteria it has infected. If this is what you are looking for, Google temperate phage or prophage. You should be able to find the info you need/.