Scientists zero in on how flu virus outfoxes drugs

AFP, January, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — Scientists have mapped out the bit of molecular plumbing that allows the influenza virus to outwit front-line flu drugs, but disagree on exactly how it works, according to a pair of studies released Wednesday.

A detailed understanding of the tunnel-and-gate mechanism, called an ion-channel protein, could lead to new drugs that could block the reproduction of flu viruses inside host cells, the researchers said.

Some 500,000 people around the world die every year from seasonal Influenza A virus, which mutates slightly from one year to the next.

A virus is a sub-microscopic pathogen that can only reproduce inside a host cell. It is composed of discrete viral particles, each with its own RNA, called virions. Like DNA, RNA contains genetic code transferred during reproduction.

When a virion enters the lungs of a bird, a horse or a human, its membrane fuses ...