by Andy Cut­ting — Bac­te­r­ial pathogens that in­vade a host cell ei­ther de­stroy it or per­sist within it. One of the most im­por­tant de­fense mech­a­nisms that mam­malian cells have de­vel­oped against such bac­te­ria is the process of au­tophagy or "self-eat­ing." This is a widely stud­ied sys­tem that cells use to de­grade some of their…