A new and unexpected role for RNA is identified: the defence of genome integrity and stability. A study published today in the prestigious scientific journal Nature shows that an until now unknown class of RNA - the newly christened DDRNA - plays a key role in activation of the molecular alarms necessary to safeguard our genome when DNA damage from internal or external factors occurs. The discovery described in the pages of Nature emerges from a study conducted by Fabrizio d'Adda di Fagagna at IFOM in Milan, in collaboration with the CNR in Pavia, the IIT at the IFOM-IEO in Milan and the Riken Omics Science Center in Yokohama, Japan. Given the importance of the cellular DNA damage response in aging, in the repression and control of tumour development, and in therapeutic treatments for cancer, the discovery could open promising interpretive and potentially therapeutic perspectives.