Next Time You Beat a Virus, Thank Your Microbial Ancestors

August 21, 2024 • by Marc Airhart

Two of our key defenses against viruses have persisted for billions of years, arising before complex life.

Two curly ribbons, one purple and one green, represent the three dimensional shapes of two related proteins

A comparison of immune proteins called viperins from Asgard archaea (left) and from a group of more complex life that includes humans, called eukaryotes (right). The three-dimensional shapes (a.k.a. structures) are strikingly similar, suggesting they also function similarly. Credit: Pedro Leão.


A kind of family tree with branches representing how different versions of a protein found in different organisms relate to each other

A family tree of immune proteins called viperins from different organisms. Versions of viperin found in complex life forms, called eukaryotes (green), fit within the group of viperins from Asgard archaea (purple). Credit: University of Texas at Austin.

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