The Misappliance Of Science

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My baby sent me a letter--

Unknown: Filamentous phage M13 obtained from lab's letter rejecting the transfer!

M13 is a virus of bacteria, that was used in the early days (1970s, 1980s) of molecular biology. The story goes that one lab published an article that used this phage; another lab wrote and asked for the material (which according to the mores of science, should have been shared), but the first lab wrote back, refusing. The second lab soaked the letter in medium and cultured the phage out of the paper, because tiny amount of it were floating around in the air while the letter was written.

There are multiple variants, from different phages to bacterial strains to cDNA (even less likely) to a beer-brewer's yeast strain; versions of it may go back to the 1950s

References:

• http://tafkac.org/science/phage.html
• Slightly updated version of the above