A new drug can treat potentially any viral infection
Scientists have developed a wonder drug that can kill viruses like the common cold. Similar to how antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, the new drug has been designed to hunt for the infected cells and kill the viruses, while leaving the healthy cells alone.
MIT scientists tested the drug against 15 viruses such as the common cold, H1N1 influenza, a stomach virus and others. Not only was the drug not toxic to the uninfected cells, it showed evidence of curing the infected cell population.
“In theory, it should work against all viruses,” said Todd Rider, MIT's Lincoln Laboratory’s inventor of the technology, in a statement.
The method is called DRACO, Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizer. The drug basically kills the virus before it launches a full on attack on the body. When a virus infects a cell, it hijacks its cellular machinery so it can turn it into a virus producing vehicle. As a result, viruses create strings of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA).
Conventional drugs target viruses by going after their replication process, such as HIV drugs that go after protease inhibitors. But when viruses evolve, the drug may build up resistance.
The new drug, however, binds to dsRNA and causes cells to commit suicide.
“If you detect a pathogenic bacterium in the environment, there is probably an antibiotic that could be used to treat someone exposed to that, but I realized there are very few treatments out there for viruses,” he said.
For the most part, the tests involved human and animals cells. Additionally, researchers wanted to see how DRACO would do against mice infected with H1N1. The mice showed signs they had been cured of the influenza virus.
The next step is to see if the drug can cure other diseases as well. If the mice tests go as planned, scientists will test larger animals and possibly conduct human clinical trials.
via MIT news
Updated for clarity
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com