As part of a person’s first line of defense against viruses and other microbes that cause illness and disease, a whole network of proteins and other molecules detect and respond to intruders, which they do in part by sensing the genetic material of the invading pathogens and recognizing it as “not self.” Most immune proteins researchers have identified thus far are able to recognize either intruding DNA or RNA—not both.
Molecular biologists identify multifunctional virus-sensing protein
