Bacteria use surprising antimissile defenselike system to fend off viruses
Jan 16, 2025
Imagine a city under constant threat from invaders. The city's defense system deploys a sophisticated anti-missile defense mechanism to neutralize threats before they can cause harm. In the microscopic world, bacteria face a similar scenario. For every bacterium out there—good and bad—there are around 10 viruses, also called "bacteriophages" or simply "phages." Each of these viruses are tailored to infiltrate bacteria, causing infection in our benign bacteria and can contribute to antibiotic resistance for the malign bacteria.