The phage is a lonely hunter

Sharks prowl the watery depths for their prey, lions stalk the tall-grass savannah, and bacteriophages, well, they've got snot. The thin layer of mucus that coats epithelial cells serves as the hunting ground for phages, viruses that kill and use bacteria to proliferate. Newly published research by scientists at San Diego State University finds that these phages use a novel hunting strategy known as "subdiffusive motion" to better their chances of finding bacteria within a mucosal surface.