Bacteriophage‐built gels as platforms for biomedical applications

Abstract Bacteriophages, or phages (bacterial viruses), have seen a resurgence in their applications following the emergence of antimicrobial‐resistant superbugs that pose enormous risks to human health and food supplies. Phages present numerous advantages over conventional small‐molecule antibiotics, including that they are highly selective bacteria‐killers and demonstrate low inherent cytotoxicity to human health. Notwithstanding the direct therapeutic applications of these innate bacteria‐killing viruses, they have also garnered attention as biological nanoparticles. Due to the diversity in sizes and shapes of phages, self‐replicating capacity, geometrical batch‐to‐batch consistency, and ease of synthetic modifications, phages are excellent building blocks for creating bioactive biomaterial platforms. In this review, we provide a brief history of the development of phage‐based materials and identify key stakeholders who are driving innovation in this space. In addition, we explore various phage‐based gel structures and provide a critical analysis of how their structures produce distinct advantageous properties that can be exploited for applications in solving challenges in biomedical engineering.