Word: ands
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Further research revealed that the same proteins also help cells resist illnesses such as West Nile virus, dengue fever, and yellow fever. But the proteins did not seem to be effective in defending cells from HIV or hepatitis C.
“We were trying to sabotage them by figuring out what they’re actually using and taking it away,” said Elledge, who is also a senior geneticist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The researchers, who had already used this same process in studies of HIV and the hepatitis C virus, hoped to find that some of the treated cells could not be infected with the influenza virus, which would suggest that the virus needed the deactivated gene to function. Instead, the researchers...
Brass and Elledge said that they next seek to determine how IFITM works in preventing the flu. For now, the discovery of these native anti-viral proteins may bode well for the battle against influenza.
A drug that increases the presence of IFITM proteins in humans without provoking negative side effects may be an effective means of preventing influenza. Another area of potential research is the possibility of inserting the IFITM genes into the genomes of animals like swine and poultry—the strains...