In consenting to publish an extravagantly long report of the most tedious kind—a genome analysis (10)—this journal has shown what appears to be extraordinary indulgence. The genome is that of P1, a bacteriophage that, unlike certain of its cousins, neither raises hopes nor instills fear. P1 phage particles are not the “great hope of universal therapy and prophylaxis,” as Felix d’Hérelle believe...