Bacteriophages aren’t just popular laboratory pets, though; they are also the most prevalent biological entity on our planet—by a long shot. They are as ubiquitous in the natural world as light and soil, and they can be found in dirt, water, our intestines, hot springs, ice cores, and just about anywhere else that supports life. Scientists estimate that there are somewhere on the order of 1031 bacteriophages on earth; that’s ten million trillion trillion, or a one with thirty-one zeros after it. A single teaspoon of seawater contains five times more phages than there are people in New York
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