The viruses of bacteria - bacteriophages - were discovered 20 years after the discovery of viruses. However, this was mainly the bacteriophage research that, after the first 40 years, yielded the modern concept of the virus and to large extent formed the grounds of the emerging molecular genetics and molecular biology. Many specific aspects of the bacteriophage research history have been addressed in the existing publications. The integral outline of the events that led to the formation of the key concepts of modern virology is presented in this review. This includes the opposition of F. d'Herelle and J. Bordet viewpoints over the nature of the bacteriophage, the history of lysogeny discovery and of determination of the mechanisms of underlying this phenomenon, the work of the Phage group led by M. Delbruck in USA, the development of the genetic analysis of bacteriophages and other research that eventually led to emergence of the concept of the virus (bacteriophage) as a transmissive genetic program. The review also covers a brief history of early applications of the bacteriophages such as phage therapy and phage typing.

中文翻译：

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早期噬菌体研究的历史和病毒学关键概念的出现

细菌病毒——噬菌体——是在发现病毒20年后才被发现的。然而，这主要是噬菌体研究，经过最初的40年，产生了病毒的现代概念，并在很大程度上形成了新兴的分子遗传学和分子生物学的基础。噬菌体研究历史的许多特定方面已在现有出版物中得到解决。本综述对导致现代病毒学关键概念形成的事件进行了整体概述。这包括 F. d'Herelle 和 J. Bordet 对噬菌体性质、溶原性发现的历史和确定这种现象潜在机制的观点的反对意见，由 M. Delbruck 领导的噬菌体小组的工作美国，噬菌体遗传分析和其他研究的发展最终导致了病毒（噬菌体）作为一种遗传程序的概念的出现。该综述还涵盖了噬菌体早期应用的简要历史，如噬菌体治疗和噬菌体分型。