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A tick on a blade of grass, waiting for passing prey. [Matt Pinski] Blood-sucking ticks spread a wider range of microbes to humans and other vertebrates than do any other known insect, causing a multitude of diseases in people and livestock. But a question that has puzzled scientists is how do the ticks protect themselves from potential pathogens they encounter on and in their hosts? A research team led by Seemay Chou, PhD, assistant professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator, has now discovered that a...

 E-Mail Ticks live dangerous lives, spending most of their time questing for a host across wildly different habitats and seasons. Once they encounter a reptile, bird, or a mammal like us, they become intimately connected with it -- and all of its bacteria and viruses -- for days on end. Though ticks are notorious for transmitting pathogens such as the Lyme disease bacterium, how does their immune system keep them safe from contracting pathogens themselves? In a study published in Cell on December 10, 2020, a research team led by UC San Francisco's Seemay Chou, PhD, provides an answer to thi...