Story Summary: In addition to mammalian immune systems that besiege the bugs, they have natural enemies called bacteriophages, viruses that kill half the bacteria on Earth every two days. Still, bacteria and another class of microorganisms called archaea (first discovered in extreme environments such as deep-sea volcanic vents) manage just fine, thank you, in part because they have a built-in defense system that helps protect them from many viruses and other invaders. Other authors on the Cellpaper include Rebecca Terns, a senior research scientist in biochemistry and molecular biology at UGA; Caryn Hale, a graduate student in the Terns lab at UGA; Lance Wells, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and Georgia Cancer Coalition Scholar at UGA and his graduate student Peng Zhao; and research associate Sara Olson, assistant professor Michael Duff and associate professor Brenton Graveley of the University of Connecticut Health Center. But the surveillance is done by tiny CRISPR RNAs rather than antibodies. What the team discovered was that a particular complex of CRISPR RNAs and a subset of the Cas proteins termed the RAMP module recognizes and destroys invader RNAs that it encounters. This work has uncovered intriguing parallels between the bacterial CRISPR-Cas system and the human immune system, suggesting a novel way to target disease-causing bacteria, said Laurie Tompkins, Ph. Understanding how the system silences invaders opens up opportunities to exploit it. With this set of Cas proteins, we now know how to cut a target RNA at the site we choose. Believe it or not, we have only recently recognized that these microorganisms have a heritable immune system because it is so different from our own, added Rebecca Terns. Believe it or not, we have only recently recognized that these microorganisms have a heritable immune system because it is so different from our own, added Rebecca Terns….Read the Full Story

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