A newly discovered family of tubulins—members of the cytoskeleton—encoded by bacteriophages plays a role in arranging the location of DNA within virus’s bacterial host.
Phage therapy to combat bacterial infections is garnering attention for the second time in 100 years, but solid clinical support for its widespread use is still lacking.
A new tool called PRISM draws on virus-host interactions and a DNA repair pathway to help researchers visualize how cellular stress may contribute to neurodegenerative disease.
In addition to continued scruitiny of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, research on similar pathogens could aid in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and future disease outbreaks.
From a rapid molecular test for COVID-19 to tools that can characterize the antibodies produced in the plasma of patients recovering from the disease, this year’s winners reflect the research community’s shared focus in a challenging year.