By studying the rare person — about one in a million — who can fight off viral infections more effectively than everyone else, investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed a strategy to help the rest of us achieve this enhanced anti-viral state.
Their research, published in Nature Communications, provides a path toward creation of the first broad-spectrum antiviral drug. None currently exists.
The international research team demonstrated in human cell and animal studies that switching off a single gene bolsters immunity against seven viruses, including the extremely dangerous Nipah and Rift Valley fever viruses.
