Viruses are capable of outmanoeuvring the ability of bacteria to commit 'suicide,' new research shows

Viruses are capable of outmanoeuvring the ability of bacteria to commit 'suicide,' new research shows

In an extraordinary example of altruistic behaviour, bacteria are capable of giving up their lives rather than allowing a viral infection to spread through their population. Now, new research has shown that viruses have evolved a mechanism that blocks bacteria from killing themselves.

These rare mutants produce an antitoxin made of the genetic material RNA. Because the antitoxin is similar to an antitoxin normally manufactured by the bacteria, it prevents the toxin from completing its lethal function, and the virus can continue replicating without becoming a victim of the host's defensive system.