{
  "id": 2182326,
  "title": "Ancient human mitochondrial genomes encode antimicrobial peptides",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/ancient-human-mitochondrial-genomes-encode-antimicrobial-peptides",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-20T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.19.745802v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Mitochondria are bacteria-derived organelles that coordinate major innate immune pathways, but whether mitochondrial genomes themselves encode direct antimicrobial functions is underexplored. Here, we test the hypothesis that ancient human mitochondrial DNA is not only an evolutionary record, but also contains encrypted peptide sequences with the capacity to contribute to host defense. Because…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}