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Article: Bacteriophage: Poultry's welcome virus.
- Article from:
- Biotech Week
- Article date:
- September 3, 2003
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2003 SEP 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- It's an idea that might alarm people who are conditioned to believe that viruses have no redeeming qualities. But Billy Hargis and his Food Safety Consortium research team at the University of Arkansas would remind them that these particular viruses can make poultry a safer commodity for consumers.
The credit goes to bacteriophages, a specific kingdom of viruses that only infect bacteria and that cannot infect plants, animals or humans.
"If you lick your lips, you're probably eating several hundred bacteriophages that are on your skin right now. They're pretty ubiquitous," said Hargis, director of the UA Poultry ...