Slashdot Mirror
Breakthrough Portends Cure For the Common Cold
breadboy21 writes with this excerpt from the Independent:
"Scientists have been able to show for the first time that the body's immune defenses can destroy the common cold virus after it has actually invaded the inner sanctum of a human cell, a feat that was believed until now to be impossible. The discovery opens the door to the development of a new class of antiviral drugs that work by enhancing this natural virus-killing machinery of the cell. Scientists believe the first clinical trials of new drugs based on the findings could begin within two to five years."
But studies at the Medical Research Council's laboratory have found that the antibodies produced by the immune system, which recognise and attack invading viruses, actually ride piggyback into the inside of a cell with the invading virus.
Yes but these 'Slim Pickens' antibodies are often regarded as clinically insane by the others that watch in confusion as the suicidal antibody hoots and hollers, waiving its antibody cowboy hat around as the virus blasts them both into the cell.
My work here is dung.
My cold will be over by then.
I look forward to seeing how this annoyance will evolve into a serious threat
I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
We reduce the number of ways we can defend against Martian war machines.
I am officially gone from
http://xkcd.com/678/
while reading the article i couldn't help thinking that the immune system would make a cool Flash game.
Unless you have a depressed immune system, I for one would NOT want this. I think part of the problem we have today with "people getting sick" is that at the first sniffle, we are off to the doctor, "demanding" an antibiotic or something to make us feel better. Doctors are partly to blame because they use to just give in and give it to us, even though most of the time, it wasn't a bacteria problem, but a virus problem. Now, a lot of antibiotics don't work, because the little bugs have gotten use to the stuff and don't work at all. Along with that, we don't eat enough raw food...everything these days is preprocessed. We don't eat raw cooked veggies, everything comes out of a can. We don't eat home-made bread, it comes from the store. We don't get enough "natural" products to protect us against invaders. And, as much of a pain in the butt as it is, we don't let ourselves "be sick". Sometimes letting the body fight off a cold, or small virus is better than trying to beat it. It helps our immune system "buck up" and keep us healthy the next time a little invader hits us. The other thing that just gets me ticked is people NOT WASHING THEIR HANDS when they use the restroom. I see it daily...people walk in, do their business, and walk out. H*ll, didn't your momma tell you to wash up after you do your business? Nice to see that some research has found those alcohol based hand cleaners are kind of worthless. Just use a little soap and warm water. Soapbox (no pun) mode off.... I'm an outside contractor who works around a large hospital...I see a LOT of garbage that people do daily...and scary...sometimes from the medical staff!
No, no, no, no, no. This is just silly.
I have seen several Star Trek episodes where they emphatically pointed out that they had never found a cure for the common cold. So how could there be one in the mere 21st century? Idiots.
Transporters that can reverse the aging process? Sure. (Though somehow they repeatedly forget this and continue to die of old age.) A cure for most every disease except the common cold? Sure! But a cure for the common cold itself? Impossible!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/opinion/05ackerman.html
i just read this last month
the common cold is an immune system overreaction. the virus does not cause the cold, our own bodies overreact to the cold, and that causes ALL symptoms. which explains why cold medicines work: they modulate the immune response, they don't actually fight the virus
so the virus comes in, borrows some cellular machinery for a few days, makes a few copies, and then leaves. our body's response is to call out the entirety of the navy, the marines, the army, the air force, the cavalry, mortar batteries, drone predators, and tactical nuclear strikes. for a crime which amounts to a homeless guy squatting in an unused home for a day or two
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
...So now we'll be able to cure the common cold, but can't put a man on the Moon (anymore)?
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
Medical researchers should be required to keep their yap shut until they produce something that works in humans. For decades I've read thousands (probably tens of thousands) of science articles that promised medical cures. Yet in that time only a handful were produced. Medical science today is little more than a money machine for researchers. I doubt that the investment is worthwhile.
Where's a cure for cancer, for diabetes, for heart disease? Nowhere to be found in the USA.
Will this help in the effectiveness of antivirals for things like herpes, hepatitis and aids?
Virus rollls self for initiative.
Can anyone find the original journal article? From a fairly quick PubMed search, James' group last published on TRIM21 back in 2008. There have been a few papers on TRIM21 in 2010, but they're not from James' institution and they don't share any authors with James' 2008 paper.
Or is this being reported before the paper has been published? Do we know that it has even been properly reviewed?
This is really cool if it's true and it's relevant to my research, so I'd love to see the original paper.
The article makes no sense. It calls antibodies "war machines". Antibodies just bind proteins
But you see, "war" is such a successful human activity, solving all kinds of problems that couldn't be solved any other way far more easily and at less human cost than any other method, that it is now used as a metaphor for any enterprise that people expect to be easily successful.
Thus, the "War on Poverty"--which eliminated poverty--and the "War on Drugs"--which eliminated recreational drug use--and the "War on Terror"--which eliminated terrorism.
As you can see, "war" is such a great metaphor for wildly successful enterprises that everyone wants to use it!
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
"...In any immunology textbook you will read that once a virus makes it into a cell, that is game over because the cell is now infected. At that point there is nothing the immune response can do other than kill that cell,..."
What a load of crap. Cells have a plenty of methods to fight virus infections. For example viral RNA silencing or interferon alpha/beta response. Moreover, killing of the infected cells is also a viable immune strategy.
So it is not a game over... In addition, where is the link to the original publication? (article or it didn't happen!)
You have to admit, though, it did cure the cold.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
You're correct. The Guardian has a better article, that touches on your point -- this approach will only work for those viruses that keep their protein coat once inside the cell; if they shed it on entry, they will not be affected in the way described.
The world has changed and we all have become metal men.