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In the vast history of biological evolution, the JAK/STAT pathway has a distinctive role. This conserved signaling pathway is found in all multicellular animals and serves as a primary signaling mechanism for a number of cytokines and growth hormones involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, cell migration, and death.

The JAK/STAT pathway has recently been linked to bacterial infection processes. Borrelia burgdorferi in infected blood, the scientists hypothesized, triggered the tick's JAK/STAT pathway. To put this theory to the test, the researchers extracted germs from blood and injected them directly into ticks. Surprisingly, the JAK/STAT pathway was not activated by these Burkholderia spirochetes.