This article gives a very strong overview of bacteriophage engineering techniques, including: Traditional Homologous Recombination-Based Techniques, Bacteriophage Recombineering of Electroporated DNA, CRISPR-Cas-Based Phage Engineering, and Rebooting Phages Using Assembled Phage Genomic DNA. It also demonstrates some applications of phages against infectious diseases, like phage-based vaccines, and phage therapies.

This article provides a clear outline of the evolution of phage engineering technologies and shows the progression from homologous recombineering-based techniques to more novel forms of phage engineering using the CRISPR system, as well as Whole Genome Synthesis and Assembly from Synthetic Oligonucleotides, and the most cutting-edge Cell-Free Transcription-Translation phage engineering systems. The article also gives examples of applications for engineered phages, like Natural Phage-Based Antimicrobials, Engineered Phages with Shifted or Broadened Host Ranges, and Engineered Phages with Reduced Impact on Mammalian Systems.

This article examines the three major types of CRISPR-Cas systems (I, II, III), and how each system involves specific phage editing strategies, comparing the phage editing efficacies of the three systems. The article demonstrates that CRISPR-Cas systems can be harnessed to accelerate phage evolution and to introduce specific desired mutations into the phage genome.

This article discusses older, homologous recombineering-based bacteriophage engineering methods and explains how they can be inefficient and time-consuming as they involve a system of selecting for phage progeny with the desired mutation. The authors also write that they found the type II CRISPR system to be easier and generally more efficient than type I, which is helpful as I am beginning to formulate my experimental plan.