Editing Genomics (section)

==== Viruses and bacteriophages ====
[[Bacteriophage]]s have played and continue to play a key role in bacterial [[genetics]] and [[molecular biology]]. Historically, they were used to define [[gene]] structure and gene regulation. Also the first [[genome]] to be sequenced was a [[bacteriophage]]. However, bacteriophage research did not lead the genomics revolution, which is clearly dominated by bacterial genomics. Only very recently has the study of bacteriophage genomes become prominent, thereby enabling researchers to understand the mechanisms underlying [[phage]] evolution.  Bacteriophage genome sequences can be obtained through direct sequencing of isolated bacteriophages, but can also be derived as part of microbial genomes. Analysis of bacterial genomes has shown that a substantial amount of microbial DNA consists of [[prophage]] sequences and prophage-like elements.<ref name = "Canchaya_2003"/> A detailed database mining of these sequences offers insights into the role of prophages in shaping the bacterial genome: Overall, this method verified many known bacteriophage groups, making this a useful tool for predicting the relationships of prophages from bacterial genomes.<ref name = "McGrath_2007"/><ref name = "Fouts_2005"/>