How some ticks protect themselves from deadly bacteria on human skin
Lyme disease-spreading arachnids co-opted an ancient bacterial gene to eliminate microbes
![Black-legged tick](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/121020_eg_tick-bacteria_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
Black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis, shown) can use a gene that they stole from bacteria millions of years ago to protect themselves from microbes living on human skin.
Patrick Randall/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)