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Round peg, square hole – why our bird flu drugs are a fluke
The world’s nations are stockpiling two drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, to counter the threat of a bird flu pandemic. These drugs work by blocking a key protein that allows the virus to spread. But a new...
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Viruses evolve to be more infectious in a well-connected population
We still don’t know enough about how viruses evolve to predict what would happen in a twenty-first century viral pandemic. New research in insects provides a clue – in a well-connected and...
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The upside of herpes – when one infection protects against another
When people say that every cloud has a silver lining, they probably aren’t thinking about herpes at the time. Herpes may be unpleasant, but the viruses that cause it and related diseases could have a...
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Resistance to an extinct virus makes us more vulnerable to HIV
Immunity to viral infections sounds like a good thing, but it can come at a price. Millions of years ago, we evolved resistance to a virus that plagued other primates. Today, that virus is extinct, but...
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Is a virus responsible for the disappearing bees?
A group of scientists have found that a virus – IAPV – may be responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious condition that’s emptying the hives of European and American beekeepers. In 2006,...
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Flu viruses take the summer off to go travelling
It’s not just us who like to go travelling in the summer – flu viruses do it too. After a busy winter of infection, they turn into the gap-year students of the virus world. They travel round the world,...
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Editing Ebola – how to tame one of the world’s deadliest viruses
In a list of the most dangerous jobs in the world, ‘Ebola researcher’ must surely rank near the top. But if new research is anything to go by, it may soon fall several places. An international team of...
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