Benjamin R. Morehouse

This study identifies a horizontal transfer of a bacterial TIR immune protein to amoebae, showing how it was domesticated into eukaryotic physiology through functional adaptation.

The paper identifies PanDA, a bacterial defense system that uses a minimal diadenylate cyclase to detect phage evasion by sequestering c-di-AMP, leading to membrane permeabilization.

The paper identifies a novel antiphage system, Panoptes, that uses a minimal CRISPR polymerase to produce cyclic nucleotides and detects phage anti-defense proteins through effector binding and nucleotide depletion.

The paper identifies SIRanc, a human homolog of bacterial antiphage SIR2 proteins, and shows it mediates innate immunity via the TLR pathway by degrading NAD+.