Cell membrane chops up viral DNA on entry

This is a summary of: Saxton, D.

S.

et al .

A membrane-bound nuclease directly cleaves phage DNA during genome injection.

Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10207-1 (2026) .

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00732-4
‘Expert opinion’ and the figure are published under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

Vassallo, C.

N., Doering, C.

R., Littlehale, M.

L., Teodoro, G.

I.

C.

& Laub, M.

T.

Nature Microbiol.

7 , 1568–1579 (2022).

Hershey, A.

D.

& Chase, M.

J.

Gen.

Physiol.

36 , 39–56 (1952).

Read the paper: A membrane-bound nuclease directly cleaves phage DNA during genome injection
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