Bacterial defense system hints at ancient link to chromosome maintenance
Columbia researchers have found a bacterial antiviral system, DRT10, that uses reverse transcriptase to write DNA from an RNA template rather than cutting DNA as CRISPR does. The system might eventually be developed into a gene-editing tool for slowing cellular aging and improving cancer treatment. The Nature paper also points to an evolutionary connection between DRT10 and telomerase, the enzyme that maintains chromosome ends in many higher organisms.
Columbia scientists identified DRT10, a bacterial defense mechanism that blocks viruses using reverse transcriptase. Unlike CRISPR, which cuts DNA, DRT10 synthesizes DNA from an RNA template. The Nature study suggests this system shares an evolutionary relationship with telomerase, which maintains chromosome ends in many higher organisms.
The enzyme came from a set of bacterial reverse transcriptases labeled the "Unknown Group" in 2008. Graduate student Stephen Tang found DRT10, with co-first authors Josephine L. Ramirez and Qixiang He. It builds a long repetitive DNA sequence from RNA while defending bacteria.
If developed further, DRT10-derived tools could offer researchers a new way to rewrite DNA without cutting it, potentially expanding options for studying cellular aging and cancer. Patients with age-related diseases or cancers might eventually benefit, though any clinical use would require years of testing. The evolutionary link to telomerase may also shape how scientists investigate chromosome maintenance and the origins of complex life. These possibilities remain speculative and depend on continued basic research.