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Superdrug may target all viruses

smiki

smiki

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Superdrug may abolish all viruse infections

So it seems the MIT scientists have developed a treatment that essentially is able to fight off any viral infection. It's essentially the equivalent of antibiotics for bacteria, but this time it's for viruses. Antivirotics!

It works by being able to destroy all of, but only those, cells that are infected with a virus, thus destroying all the viruses as well.

When any virus infects a cell it starts making more copies of itself. During this process, viruses produce strings of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). These strings are not normally found in healthy human or animal cells, the researchers noted.

As part of their natural defense against infection, cells also make proteins that attach to dsRNA -- helping to prevent the virus from replicating. Many viruses escape harm by blocking this cellular defense strategy, however.

DRACO includes a so-called "delivery tag," that allows it to cross cellular membranes and enter any human or animal cell that contains viral dsRNA.

Rider's idea was to combine a dsRNA protein that attaches to cells with another protein that causes cells to die. That means that when DRACO hooks up with the suspect dsRNA, it kickstarts a process whereby the infected cells begin to kill themselves.
Click to expand...

Of course, it's only in an experimental stage yet, it will take a decade probably to get it to pharmacies, and it's also so far been tested only on animals and on 15 different viruses, but if it does work it would be Nobel prize worthy... it would be the pharmaceutical discovery of the century (in theory it could even kill HIV viruses).

Bad side is, if the infection spread to, lets say, the whole liver, the treatment won't work, unless you want to destroy the whole liver.


Edit: AND it works against common cold! :)

Several sources:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20788-experimental-drug-could-defeat-any-virus.html
http://healthland.time.com/2011/08/11/mit-scientists-develop-a-drug-to-fight-any-viral-infection/
http://health.usnews.com/health-new...nge-of-viruses-shows-promise-in-animal-trials
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193573.html
 
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Meh?! This is just hype. Let's see what happens in trials before we get our hopes up.

Medicine is known for great ideas that don't work in the end.
 
Well, it has been tested on animals and with 15 different viruses and it worked. Although.. it is hype, as everything else of this type of thing, until it's fully proven and tested on humans... but lets wait and see.
 
Well if all the rioters in the UK the other week had been zombies, they would have been looting for brains instead of trainers, and they wouldn't have been able to run away from the police as well as they did. I expect Cameron will be eager to endorse the treatment.
 
The term broad-spectrum antibiotic refers to an antibiotic that acts against a wide range of disease-causing bacteria. A broad-spectrum antibiotic acts against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, in contrast to a narrow-spectrum antibiotic, which is effective against specific families of bacteria.

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have unveiled a new “superdrug,” which they say is capable of curing any virus from influenza to the common cold. The drug is long way from human trials but has been successful in killing viruses in mice by attacking genetic materials in viruses.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently published the results of a development study in the journal PLoS One, according to Time, that shows astonishing promise. A new “superdrug” called DRACO has the potential to kill any and all viruses, including deadly hemorrhagic fevers, polio, all strains of influenza and the common cold. The drug targets the genetic information that viruses use to replicate. DRACO, or Double-stranded RNA Activated Capsase Oligomerizer, attacks a form of ribonucleic acid, a compound found in all forms of life on earth, that only cells that are infected with a virus produce, according to MIT News.
 
A chemical substance produced by a microorganism, which has the capacity to inhibit the growth of or to kill other microorganisms is called as an antibiotic.

An antibiotic that is effective against a wide range of infectious microorganisms which includes both gram positive and gram negative bacteria is called as a Broad spectrum antibiotic.

A new “Superdrug” developed by experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology might be capable of healing any virus from Ebola to the common cold. The narcotic is long way from human trials but has been successful in killing viruses in mice by attacking genetic materials in viruses. MIT generates Superdrug that could be able to get rid of all viruses. This new “superdrug” called DRACO has the potential to kill any and all viruses, including deadly hemorrhagic fevers, polio, all strains of influenza and the common cold. The drug targets the genetic information that viruses use to replicate. DRACO, or Double-stranded RNA Activated Capsase Oligomerizer, attacks a form of ribonucleic acid, a compound found in all forms of life on earth, that only cells that are infected with a virus produce, according to MIT News.
 
It doesn't seem like much of a stretch to target cancer cells as well, and also allow the extension of human lifespans. So how long before there's a drug to repair telomeres and extend the Hayflick limit of cells, perhaps by stimulating the production of telomerase reverse transcriptase? The increased risk of cancer might also be ameliorated by taking carnosine or other antioxidant supplements that suppress glycolysis. I might be spouting rubbish, of course.
 
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