Proteins on the skin of influenza A viruses are key to breaching our our bodies’ mucus limitations
Kateryna Kon/Science Photograph Library
Earlier than viruses can infect cells, they have to first get to them, usually by traversing layers of the physique’s protecting mucus. Understanding how evolution optimised the influenza A virus for this slimy process may assist us create new antiviral medication.
Should you simply dropped an influenza A virus into mucus, pure diffusion would by no means carry it to cells quick sufficient to trigger an an infection, says Siddhansh Agarwal on the College of California, Berkeley. Influenza A viruses – the one influenza…
