Just as the garbage that collected in streets during the Middle Ages sustained rats and the bubonic plague they spread, DNA piling up in dead or dying cells creates an environment conducive to systemic lupus erythematosus, or lupus. Working with an enzyme that clears away such cellular debris, scientists in Germany have opened a new line of research into this autoimmune disease.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.