More evolvable bacteriophages better suppress their host.

The number of multidrug-resistant strains of bacteria is increasing rapidly, while the number of new antibiotic discoveries has stagnated. This trend has caused a surge in interest in bacteriophages as anti-bacterial therapeutics, in part because there is near limitless diversity of phages to harness. While this diversity provides an opportunity, it also creates the dilemma of having to decide which criteria to use to select phages.