We study how bacteria protect themselves from the viruses (phage) that infect them
and the countermeasures that phage use
to evade these bacterial immune systems.
We use a variety of experimental approaches including biochemistry, genetics, and structural biology to discover how these systems function in molecular detail.
Our long-term goal is better understand the principles that underlie host defense to help in the fight against infectious disease.

We study the molecular mechanisms of the bacteria/phage ‘arms race’.
Genetic Medicine Building,
Room 3111, CB 2760
120 Mason Farm Rd
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7260
919.843.3390
Justin_Jenson<at>med.unc.edu