Viruses can have immune systems: A pirate phage commandeers the immune system of bacteria
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - 15:31
in Health & Medicine
A new study reports that a viral predator of the cholera bacteria has stolen the functional immune system of bacteria and is using it against its bacterial host. This provides the first evidence that this type of virus, the bacteriophage, can acquire an adaptive immune system. The study has implications for phage therapy, the use of phages to treat bacterial diseases.