| ■ Discovery May Lead To New Antiviral Drugs | 2010.11.07 |
| An important discovery may lead to the development of new antiviral drugs to treat illnesses such as the common cold and gastroenteritis, say U.K. scientists. It's long been thought that immune system antibodies could only combat viral infections by blocking or attacking viruses when they were outside cells. But the Medical Research Council team found that antibodies can enter cells and fight viruses from within, BBC News reported. "Doctors have plenty of antibiotics to fight bacterial infections but few antiviral drugs," said study author Dr. Leo James. "Although these are early days, and we don't yet know whether all viruses are cleared by this mechanism, we are excited that our discoveries may open multiple avenues for developing new antiviral drugs." The scientists emphasized that it will take years of research and testing to develop new antiviral treatments, BBC News reported. The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. |