Since the discovery that ZBP1, via RIPK3, induces necroptosis during murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection, its role in cell death during infection and embryonic development has been well established (Upton et al, 2012; Lin et al, 2016; Newton et al, 2016; Thapa et al, 2016; Kuriakose & Kanneganti, 2018; Jiao et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2020). Here, RIPK3 is linked to infection.