IFN production following treatment of colorectal or ovarian cancer cells with pharmacological inhibitors of DNA methylation appears to depend on double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) sensing through the RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs), MDA5 (melanoma differentiation factor 5) and RIG-I (retinoic acid-inducible gene I) and activation of their downstream mitochondrial adaptor, MAVS (mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein)8,13. Here, MAVS is linked to ovarian carcinoma.