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MBL Senior Scientist Irina Arkhipova is quoted in this article.

Made-to-order gene could be so toxic that cells only assemble it in emergencies

Viruses plague bacteria as well as people, and some bacteria deploy what one scientist calls a “crazy molecular mechanism” to defend themselves, two studies published in Science this month reveal. The bacteria conjure up an entirely new gene that isn’t normally in their repertoire. This gene, dubbed neo by both groups that unearthed it, then spawns a protein that stymies the viral invaders.

Although the mechanism seems bizarre, “these are excellent papers,” says microbiologist Aude Bernheim of the Pasteur Institute, who wasn’t connected to the research. “Both have very convincing evidence.” The findings offer the latest challenge to the misperception that genetic information flows only one way—from DNA to RNA to proteins—and raise the possibility that similar cryptic genes lurk in other organisms, even humans.

Source: Bacteria Use ‘Crazy Molecular Mechanism’ to Fight Viruses | Science

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