Cells exposed to stressful conditions must respond by adapting to the stressor, or if the cell is overwhelmed then they can undergo programmed cell death. An interesting phenomenon has recently been discovered in which stressed cells are able to communicate with neighbouring cells. More specifically, stressed cells are able to induce stress in naive neighbouring cells, suggesting a mechanism by which stress response can spread through an organism. Here we describe our recent results in which we investigate the nature of this intercellular communication. We have shown that a range of different stressors are able to induce the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs). Here we'll describe the changes in EV content that may mediate these intercellular responses and discuss their significance in health and disease. We will also discuss the way in which RNAs are loaded into these EVs under normal and stress conditions. These results give new insight into the way cargo is loaded into EVs and how these EVs contribute to intercellular stress response.