How dividing cells avoid setting off false virus alarms
Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - 07:10
in Biology & Nature
One feature of cell division has long puzzled scientists. The nucleus briefly disappears, leaving the cell's DNA exposed. Normally, bare DNA indicates a viral infection and triggers enzymatic alarms that alert the immune system to the rogue DNA. But no such alarms sound during healthy cell division, even as DNA floats in the cytoplasm.