Sorek Lab

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: Drove the systematic discovery of new defense systems

For billions of years bacteria have fought viruses, but until 2018, scientists could name only a handful of the tools they use—mostly restriction enzymes and CRISPR. The catalog has since grown to more than 150 defense systems, and on April 23 Nature added another: Clover, a bacterial system that starves invading viruses of DNA building blocks without poisoning the bacterium itself.

Updated May 31