Transmission electron micrograph (TEM) showing lysis (destruction) of a rod-shaped bacterium by T4 bacteriophages or phages (viruses that infect bacteria, orange ovals with stalks). Bacteriophages infect the bacterium, they then use the bacterium's genetic machinery to replicate themselves. When a sufficient number of bacteriophages have been produced, the phages exit the cell by lysis, a process that kills the cell. Magnification: x15,748 when printed at 10 centimetres wide.