A study by researchers in the UC Irvine School of Medicine examines how our bodies activate defense mechanisms only in the presence of a virus, ensuring that uninfected, healthy cells are not harmed. Professor Rémi Buisson and graduate student Lavanya Manjunath talk about the findings here. The goal is to identify new mechanisms that cells can use to block or prevent a virus from replicating, while also better understanding how to address the misregulation of immune responses, often associated with genetic diseases and immune dysfunction.