"The Daily Dose"

Snifflers of the world rejoice: Scientists are one step closer to finding effective treatments for the common cold now that researchers have deciphered the genetic code of the ubiquitous virus.

While a full-blown cure for the common cold is not expected anytime soon, the mapping of the human rhinovirus’s genetic blueprint will help scientists better understand and combat this highly contagious pathogen. In the meantime, there are always ways to help keep yourself from succumbing to the coughs and congestion.

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and the University of Wisconsin-Madison cracked the cold’s code by sequencing the genomes of all 99 known strains of rhinovirus. This allowed the team to determine how all the strains were related to one another, creating a viral family tree of sorts.

The work, detailed in the Feb. 13 issue of the journal Science, confirmed some ideas about the nature of the human rhinovirus while providing a few surprises.

“We know a lot about the common cold virus,” said study co-author Ann Palmenberg of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “but we didn’t know how their genomes encoded all that information. Now we do, and all kinds of new things are falling out.”

Read the entire article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29165133/

This entry was posted on Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 12:24 pm and is filed under General Topic, Industry News, Men's Health, Women's Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.