Philip J. Kranzusch

New Capabilities

Co-discoverer of the CBASS activation mechanism

Bacteria have a last-resort defense against viruses: an infected cell kills itself before the virus can spread. Research published October 1 in Science shows the virus's own enzyme sets off that switch.

Updated Nov 1

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: Senior author on the Clover mechanism paper

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