AI‑driven protein design creates potent anti‑CRISPR inhibitors that block Cas13 activity, offering a new potential tool for safer, more controlled gene editing.

Bacteria get invaded by viruses called phages. Scientists are studying how bacteria use CRISPR to defend themselves from phages, which will inform new phage-based treatments for bacterial infections ...

For over a century, scientists have been fascinated by bacteriophages, the tiny viruses that naturally hunt and kill bacteria. University of Otago researchers are turning to these microscopic ...

Bacteria combat phage infection using antiphage systems and many systems generate nucleotide-derived second messengers upon infection that activate effector proteins to mediate immunity. Phages ...

In nature, the best-known CRISPR system, CRISPR-Cas9, cuts any RNA or DNA it recognizes as foreign, and thereby protects bacteria from viral attacks. Another CRISPR system, one that is relatively ...

Some viruses, known as bacteriophages, only infect bacterial cells, often destroying those bacteria in the process. Bacteria, in turn, can develop defenses against these viruses. Bacteriophages or ...

The idea that a single-celled bacterium can defend itself against viruses in a similar way as the 1.8-trillion-cell human immune system is still “mind-blowing” for molecular biologist Joshua Modell of ...

WASHINGTON, DC — Research on the gut microbiome — and clinical attention to it — has focused mainly on bacteria, but bacteriophages and fungi play critical roles as well, with significant influences ...

Phage therapy is an emerging strategy that uses viruses that target bacteria to restore gut balance and treat microbiome-related diseases. Ongoing research and early trials show promise, but ...

Like people, bacteria get invaded by viruses. In bacteria, the viral invaders are called bacteriophages, derived from the Greek word for bacteria-eaters, or in shortened form, "phages." Scientists ...