New Wonder Drug Kills Almost Any Virus

Earnest Cavalli

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Jun 19, 2008
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New Wonder Drug Kills Almost Any Virus



Researchers at MIT have unveiled a clever new treatment plan that they say can neutralize almost any viral infection.

They call it "Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizer" (or DRACO if you're into brevity and awesome acronyms), and effectively it functions in much the same way as a firebreak.

Whereas firefighters remove swaths of vegetation in front of a forest fire to deprive it of fuel, DRACO effectively targets and kills those human cells that have become hosts for the invading virus, forcing the aberration to burn itself out.

PopSci offers a less metaphorical explanation:

Viruses work by inserting themselves into a cell and hijacking its machinery for its own use. The invaded cell then creates more copies of the virus, which involves creating long strings of double-stranded RNA - which contains the virus' genetic material, like DNA contains ours.

When the virus is done copying itself, its hostage cell usually dies, from the virus bursting through its walls (lysis), changes to the cell's outer membrane, and from apoptosis, or programmed cell death.

Human cells have plenty of defenses against viral invasion, including proteins that attach to the double-stranded RNA, preventing the virus from replicating itself after successful invasion.

This new drug therapy combines those dsRNA proteins with a protein that induces apoptosis. It's called a DRACO, Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizer.

When one end of the DRACO binds to dsRNA, it signals the other end of the DRACO to induce cell suicide, an MIT News article explains. In this way, the cell is killed before the virus can take over and eventually kill it anyway. If there is no dsRNA, the healthy cells are left alone.

The neat bit is that DRACO should, in theory, work on almost any virus, as instead of attacking the virus directly (as conventional treatments would), it instead targets the viral "food supply."

This concept is not exactly novel however. There are already drugs on the market that do much the same thing as DRACO, though they largely are only effective against a single virus, or at best, a handful of similar viruses. The big advantage of DRACO is that so far, it seems to function on such a fundamental level that it has proven effective against nearly the entire swath of known viral agents.

As with all such breakthroughs, we are still a few years of intensive testing away from seeing DRACO in widespread public use, though the potential here is simply mind-boggling. If proven viable, DRACO could quite literally be the fabled "cure for the common cold."

Source: PopSci [http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-08/new-drug-can-treat-almost-any-viral-infection-cold-flu-killing-infected-cells]
(Image [http://www.flickr.com/photos/36128932@N03/3338845735/])

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fenrizz

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Feb 7, 2009
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This is very good news indeed!

To say that this would revolutionize modern medicine would be an severe understatement.
I hope they can make this viable.
 

imnot

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Apr 23, 2010
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How long till it goes evil and causes zombies!
DAM YOU SCIENCE!!!!!!!1111110ne

(If anyone takes that seriously I will puch them in the jaw)
(via text)
 

Panzervaughn

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Jul 19, 2009
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imnotparanoid said:
How long till it goes evil and causes zombies!
DAM YOU SCIENCE!!!!!!!1111110ne

(If anyone takes that seriously I will puch them in the jaw)
(via text)
Seriously though, if you name it "DRACO" it IS going ot be responsible for wiping out 99% of the planet overnight.
 

Jonci

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Sep 15, 2009
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This is kinda like shooting your friend in the head for getting bit by a zombie. Kill him before he turns.
 

Araksardet

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Wow - not only this, but researchers may have found a cure for leukemia just a few days ago:

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2011/08/11/2011-08-11_doctors_cure_leukemia_in_a_few_patients_by_altering_their_blood_cells.html?r=news

I can't wait to see all the luddites arrive and proclaim that this will end up killing us all, and the fundies saying that their god wants people with viruses to die. It's always fun to watch them squirm.
 

Erana

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Panzervaughn said:
imnotparanoid said:
How long till it goes evil and causes zombies!
DAM YOU SCIENCE!!!!!!!1111110ne

(If anyone takes that seriously I will puch them in the jaw)
(via text)
Seriously though, if you name it "DRACO" it IS going ot be responsible for wiping out 99% of the planet overnight.
Well, I'd like to know more about this "Works on a fundamental level" thing. I mean, with retroviruses common through our history, we have virus RNA in all human DNA. So, what's to stop this from somehow deciding to press the "Self destruction" button on all cells?

I'll go ask my sister. She knows things about stuff and sciences and what not.
 

TheYellowCellPhone

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Sep 26, 2009
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1. Pump my blood full of that
2. Destroy it
3. Create super-virus to wipe out most of the Earth
4. Rule the remaining population as a god
 

Mr. Gency

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Jan 26, 2010
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The world is going to end in seven days.

You have one chance.

That's what popped into my head, anyway.
 

Pinkamena

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Jun 27, 2011
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If this suddenly turns rouge and kill every human in the world, it will at least have a very fitting name.
 

Braedan

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Earnest Cavalli said:
The neat bit is that DRACO should, in theory, work on almost any virus, as instead of attacking the virus directly (as conventional treatments would), it instead targets the viral "food supply."
Please tell me I'm not the only one who IMMEDIATELY thought of halo after this line...

The Master Chief: The Flood is spreading. If we activate Halo's defenses, we can wipe them out.
Cortana: You have no idea how this ring works, do you? Why the Forerunners built it? Halo doesn't kill Flood, IT KILLS THEIR FOOD! Humans, Covenant, whatever; we're all equally edible. The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death, and that's EXACTLY what Halo is designed to do; wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life. You don't believe me? Ask HIM.
[points to the Monitor]
The Master Chief: [turns to the Monitor with a serious demeanor] Is it true?
343 Guilty Spark: ...More or less. Technically, this installation's pulse has a maximum effective radius of up to 25,000 light years. But, once others follow suit, this galaxy will be quite devoid of life. Or, at least any life with sufficient biomass to sustain the Flood. But you already knew that. I mean... how couldn't you?
Cortana: Left out that little detail, did he?

EDIT: But seriously, this is good if it works. I don't think anything can become "resistant" to having it's food kill itself and become inedible.
 

Rin Little

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Jul 24, 2011
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It says almost all viruses, that makes me curious as to which ones specifically they're anticipating it wouldn't work against and why. I'm going to assume the ones that replicate themselves so quickly that they do enough damage in such a short time that the DRACO would be largely ineffective against it.
 

teebeeohh

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Jun 17, 2009
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i read about this a few days ago but for some reason i am always rather skeptical of medical breakthroughs.
 

Wintermoot

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Aug 20, 2009
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sounds like something from a zombie movie "whoops! just started the zombie apocalypse" better ready some food and water supplies!
 

Avaholic03

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May 11, 2009
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Call me cynical, but I can see two extreme problems with this.

1. Why would drug compaines ever let this happen? There's no money in curing diseases, they found that out with polio. The money is in treatment.

2. Even if it is released, how long until super-resistant viruses start springing up?
 

mad825

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Mar 28, 2010
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Eh, the viruses will eventually adapt. At some point, it's going to be overused and will face very similar problems to what we are having with antibiotics.
It's no "cure" but a prevention, a treatment until we can find something more foolproof.

Also, it's very stupid to try and erase viruses, They help all life to evolve in a sense of an endless arms race. They mutate into something powerful, we develop more powerful immunities.