Man is but a worm (with some small differences)

Gene silencing via RNA interference (RNAi) pathways, a defense mechanism against transposable elements, is evolutionarily conserved and mediated by small RNAs (sRNAs). The exoribonuclease MUT-7 plays a key role in generating the sRNAs. In a recent study published in Nucleic Acids Research, first author Virginia Busetto, a post-doctoral researcher in the lab of Sebastian Falk, characterized MUT-7, revealing that its C-terminal domain exhibits species-specific variations that may serve unique functions.