Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

SOS: RNA-processing mechanism rescues genes from invasive DNA

Transposable elements can insert into genes, disrupting protein-coding potential. Researchers discover a mode of RNA processing, ‘SOS splicing’, that provides a quick fix.
By
  1. René F. Ketting

    1. René F. Ketting is at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Mainz 55122, Germany.

All living organisms face the problem of parasites — entities that thrive on others, often at the hosts’ expense. As a result, life is characterized by the presence of defence systems that keep such rogues in check. Most people are familiar with viruses and bacteria that use humans as their hosts, sometimes causing disease, and how the immune system defends against them. But this concept of parasitism and defence extends to the very molecules that encode life itself: DNA and RNA. Writing in Nature, Zhao et al.1 uncover an evolutionarily conserved RNA-processing mechanism for defending against DNA that has invaded the genome.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 649, 294-295 (2026)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03734-w

References

  1. Zhao, L.-W. et al. Nature 649, 496–504 (2025).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wells, J. N. & Feschotte, C. Annu. Rev. Genet. 54, 539–561 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Niault, T., van Houte, S., Westra, E. & Swarts, D. C. Curr. Biol. 35, R32–R44 (2025).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Jouravleva, K. & Zamore, P. D. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 26, 347–370 (2025).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Rosspopoff, O. & Trono, D. Trends Genet. 39, 844–857 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Lehner, P. J. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 94, 361–386 (2025).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Cosby, R. L., Chang, N.-C. & Feschotte, C. Genes Dev. 33, 1098–1116 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Dumesic, P. A. & Madhani, H. D. Trends Biochem. Sci. 39, 25–34 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Rushforth, A. M. & Anderson, P. Mol. Cell Biol. 16, 422–429 (1996).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links