Reposted by @angelosantos.bsky.social
Pretty amazing. During viral infection, bacteria containing the DRT2 defense system use reverse transcriptase to generate a novel, highly repetitive gene with an open reading frame in which the resulting protein is toxic and leads to growth arrest, restricting viral infection. Bonkers 🧪
science.org
Bacteria use ‘crazy molecular mechanism’ to fight viruses
Made-to-order gene could be so toxic that cells only assemble it in emergencies