Some interesting news in the anti-virus world. This appears to be very significant if it can be made to work with humans and made at a reasonable price. Read the whole article.
Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) Activated Caspase Oligomerizer (DRACO)
Some more important research funded at least partly by what the GOP loons of the right wing fringes attack as evil big brother.
Below is the abstract of the article. Not that I understand much of it.
Currently there are relatively few antiviral therapeutics, and most which do exist are highly pathogen-specific or have other disadvantages. We have developed a new broad-spectrum antiviral approach, dubbed Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) Activated Caspase Oligomerizer (DRACO) that selectively induces apoptosis in cells containing viral dsRNA, rapidly killing infected cells without harming uninfected cells. We have created DRACOs and shown that they are nontoxic in 11 mammalian cell types and effective against 15 different viruses, including dengue flavivirus, Amapari and Tacaribe arenaviruses, Guama bunyavirus, and H1N1 influenza. We have also demonstrated that DRACOs can rescue mice challenged with H1N1 influenza. DRACOs have the potential to be effective therapeutics or prophylactics for numerous clinical and priority viruses, due to the broad-spectrum sensitivity of the dsRNA detection domain, the potent activity of the apoptosis induction domain, and the novel direct linkage between the two which viruses have never encountered.
Not sure if any of this has significance for any South Dakota researchers, but I hope some find this interesting if they have missed the story so far.
**Post by Douglas Wiken with information from PLoS One originally found at DWS (Drive We Said) Forum.
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