A cure for the common cold?

November 3, 2010 by Editor

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Model of the virus disposal system used by the cell to get rid of unwanted material (LMB)

Landmark research led by Dr. Leo James from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge UK has discovered that antibodies can fight viruses from within infected cells.

This finding transforms the previous scientific understanding of our immunity to viral diseases like the common cold and gastroenteritis. It also gives scientists a different set of rules that pave the way to the next generation of antiviral drugs.

Viruses are mankind’s biggest killer, responsible for twice as many deaths each year as cancer, yet they are among the hardest of all diseases to treat. Previously scientists believed that antibodies could only reduce infection by attacking viruses outside cells and also by blocking their entry into cells.