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Is lyophilization a good way to store phages? Prasanth Manohar and Nachimuthu Ramesh (Vellore Institute of Technology) tested lyophilization conditions for three phages (an Escherichia phage, a Klebsiella phage and an Enterobacter phage) using different excipients (vehicles), including glucose, sucrose, gelatin, mannitol, polyethylene glycol, and sorbitol, as well as different post-lyophilization storage temperatures. They looked at viability of phages over time, and showed that sucrose, gelatin and 4°C storage helped maintain phage viability for up to 20 months.