In new work published in the journal eLife, Dr. Asma Hatoum-Aslan and one of her graduate students, Lucy Chou-Zheng, uncover new insights into how a common skin bacterium combats its viruses. The researchers discovered that the immune system in Staphylococcus bacteria known as CRISPR-Cas does not function on its own, but rather, it mobilizes other cellular processes that are normally not associated with immunity to defend against viral infection. These findings will help facilitate efforts to develop more effective antimicrobials based on bacterial viruses and have the potential to inspire new technologies based on CRISPR-Cas systems. Read the original publication in eLife, or special features in eLife digests or the UA News.