You can be replaced: Immune cells compensate for defective DNA repair factor

A new mouse model has provided some surprising insight into XLF, a molecule that helps to repair lethal DNA damage. The research, published by Cell Press in the September 5th issue of the journal Molecular Cell, suggests that although XLF shares many properties with well known DNA repair factors, certain cells of the immune system possess an unexpected compensatory mechanism that that can take over for nonfunctional XLF.