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South Indian Frog Oozes Molecule That Inexplicably Decimates Flu Viruses (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: From the slimy backs of a South Indian frog comes a new way to blast influenza viruses. A compound in the frog's mucus -- long known to have germ-killing properties -- can latch onto flu virus particles and cause them to burst apart, researchers report in Immunity. The peptide is a potent and precise killer, able to demolish a whole class of flu viruses while leaving other viruses and cells unharmed. But scientists don't know exactly how it pulls off the viral eviscerations. No other antiviral peptide of its ilk seems to work the same way. The study authors, led by researchers at Emory University, note that the peptide appears uniquely nontoxic -- something that can't be said of many other frog-based compounds. Thus, the peptide on its own holds promise of being a potential therapy someday. But simply figuring out how it works could move researchers closer to a vaccine or therapy that could take out all flus, ditching the need for yearly vaccinations for each season's flavor of flu.
...how all the technical and scientific capabilities of humankind cannot develop an antibody for a particular virus, but our immune systems do it in a couple of days, no sweat. Or rather, possibly lots of sweat, but they do it. One would thing that it would be possible to replicate the process somehow.
Note: I understand that, in the case indicated in the article, it goes beyond that, offering some kind of general-purpose antibody, probably targeting parts of the virus cover that are more hidden, and usually don't mutate. But anyway. That we cannot design that peptide, and must rely on the blind watchmaker to find it for us, is a bit baffling.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.