Cyclic Nucleotide Signaling: A Second Messenger of Death (Cell Host & Microbe)

All life forms rely on defenses to fight off viruses that prey on them. Intriguingly, bacteria often develop the blueprints for these. Recently published in Nature, Cohen et al. uncover a widespread bacterial anti-viral defense system, which may be the evolutionary precursor to the metazoan cGAS-STING immune pathway.