The strangest shield in the bacterial world could inspire new medicines

Bacteria under attack from viruses have a trick scientists call the strangest of its kind: a system that only builds its DNA defences once an invader gets inside, then unleashes tiny, potent toxins. The Gladstone and UCSF team behind the find, published in Molecular Cell, is already borrowing the machinery to design new sensors and switches — and exploring whether those toxins could become a fresh kind of bacteria-killing medicine.