Potential Virus Weapon
The immune system has been found to target viruses inside cells, suggesting new strategies against infections including the common cold and winter vomiting bug.”
“The discovery…could pave the way for a new generation of antiviral drugs that fight infections by supercharging the body’s own defences. Future treatments based on James’s research are only expected to work against a class of viruses that do not shed their protein coats when they invade healthy cells. Those that do would leave the attached antibodies outside the cells, and so not trigger the cell’s own immune attack.” According to expert Sir Greg Winter: ‘This research is not only a leap in our understanding of how and where antibodies work, but more generally in our understanding of immunity and infection.'”
