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Artist’s rendering of various orange and pink colored bacteria
Q&A: What if Immune Cells Don’t Actually Detect Viruses and Bacteria?
The Scientist spoke with Jonathan Kagan about his idea that immune cells respond to “errors” made by unsuccessful pathogens, not the pathogens themselves.
Q&A: What if Immune Cells Don’t Actually Detect Viruses and Bacteria?
Q&A: What if Immune Cells Don’t Actually Detect Viruses and Bacteria?

The Scientist spoke with Jonathan Kagan about his idea that immune cells respond to “errors” made by unsuccessful pathogens, not the pathogens themselves.

The Scientist spoke with Jonathan Kagan about his idea that immune cells respond to “errors” made by unsuccessful pathogens, not the pathogens themselves.

viral replication

To flag neurons that have experienced genotoxic stress, researchers developed an in vivo sensor using an adeno-associated viral vector, called PRISM. Because a cell’s DNA damage response (DDR)—which activates in response to stressors such as environmental toxins or the buildup of misfolded proteins—also responds to invading pathogens, PRISM has an easier time transfecting cells whose damage response mechanisms are preoccupied with existing DNA damage. Once inside, the virus hijacks the neuron’s DNA replication machinery, which reverts an engineered frameshift mutation in the virus and thereby prompts the production of a fluorescent protein that can be observed via microscopy.
Infographic: DNA Damage Viewed with Unprecedented Clarity
Amanda Heidt | Aug 15, 2022 | 2 min read
A new genetic sensor called PRISM makes use of a host cell’s DNA replication machinery to trigger fluorescence in neurons with damaged DNA.
Broken DNA
DNA Damage Viewed with Unprecedented Clarity
Amanda Heidt | Aug 15, 2022 | 3 min read
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.
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Scanning Viral Genomes with 300mer Oligonucleotides
Twist Bioscience | Sep 8, 2021 | 1 min read
Researchers use long custom oligos to screen viral genome stability with an NGS workflow.
Insects Pass Antiviral Immunity to Offspring
Abby Olena, PhD | Dec 17, 2020 | 4 min read
In both Drosophila and mosquitoes, protection lasts for generations following a single maternal exposure to positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses.
Gene Splicing Pioneer Dale Kaiser Dies
Ashley Yeager | Jun 29, 2020 | 5 min read
Working with a virus that infects bacteria, the Stanford University biochemist and developmental biologist helped to develop a way to stitch DNA together, a discovery that gave rise to genetic engineering.
Why Some COVID-19 Cases Are Worse than Others
Katarina Zimmer | Feb 24, 2020 | 7 min read
Emerging data as well as knowledge from the SARS and MERS coronavirus outbreaks yield some clues as to why SARS-CoV-2 affects some people worse than others.
Some Viruses May Infect by Inserting Different Portions of Genetic Material
Emma Yasinski | Mar 18, 2019 | 3 min read
Viruses that infect plants and occasionally insects appear to cause infection with a divide-and-conquer strategy, multiplying separate segments of genetic material in different host cells.
Researchers Develop a Drug Against the Common Cold
Catherine Offord | May 15, 2018 | 2 min read
In an in vitro study, the compound completely blocked the replication of rhinoviruses.
Maternal Response to Zika Damages Mouse Fetuses
Catherine Offord | Jan 5, 2018 | 2 min read
Signaling pathways triggered by the mother’s immune system may cause complications during fetal development.
Ebola RNA Found Hiding in Health-Care Worker’s Lungs
Bob Grant | Jan 5, 2017 | 1 min read
A case study reports evidence of viral replication lingering in the respiratory tract of an infected person, even after the person’s blood was Ebola free.
CRISPR Combats Herpes
Alison F. Takemura | Jul 5, 2016 | 2 min read
Scientists use the gene editing technology to target active and latent virus in mammalian cell cultures.
Compatible Company
Amber Dance | Sep 1, 2015 | 8 min read
A guide to culturing cells with viruses in mind
Hidden Menace
John Frater, Genevieve Martin, and Matthew Pace | May 1, 2015 | 10+ min read
Curing HIV means finding and eradicating viruses still lurking in the shadows.
Hide and Seek
The Scientist Staff | Apr 30, 2015 | 1 min read
Oxford researcher John Frater explains the strategy of targeting viral reservoirs to beat HIV.
Where Rhinovirus Replicates Best
Tracy Vence | Jan 6, 2015 | 1 min read
A mouse study shows that the common cold-causing virus replicates better in the cooler nasal cavity than in the warmer lung.
Nipah Protein Structure Revealed
Jef Akst | Nov 18, 2013 | 2 min read
The structure of a key protein of the deadly virus could serve as a stepping stone to antiviral therapy.
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