Adenovirus’s epigenetic power to reprogram cells goes beyond its ability to cause tumorous replication — G.J. Fonseca and colleagues at the Western University of Ontario report in the new Cell Host & Microbe that it’s also able to sabotage the interferon response, which usually functions as a first line of defense in infected cells. In an April post, I interviewed Roberto Ferrari about adenovirus research and its ability to push cells back into active tumor-like replication, so I thought this bit of news was an interesting incremental step in overall knowledge of how invaders — particularly adenovirus — use epigenetics against us. What a bunch of jerks! In particular, Fonseca and colleagues used a yeast two-hybrid screen to find out … Continue reading →