Word: colds
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Although Hannah Beech's article underscores some important truths about young Chinese athletes, it is also a throwback to cold war depictions of the Chinese as brainwashed "pawns of the state." When will TIME stop making value judgments and maintain a sense of cultural relativity? I grew up with many athletes in America who, just like the athletes in this article, have neglected higher academics to achieve success in sports. I've not only known but had coaches who are just as tough, if not tougher, than the coaches described in this article. And, oh, yeah - the "propaganda director...
Until now, research has generally concentrated on keeping HSV1 inactive - and preventing cold sores from ever showing up. But the Duke researchers took the opposite tack: figuring out precisely how to switch the virus from latency to its active stage. That's important, says lead author Dr. Bryan Cullen, professor of molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke, "because unless you activate the virus, you can't kill...
...discovered that it was the microRNA that blocked production of the protein that activates HSV-1. "So if there was a sufficient supply of microRNA, then the virus stayed latent," Cullen says. "But under a high level of stress, the microRNA's blocking mechanisms break down, thus triggering a cold sore." The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, will be published in the journal Nature this week...
Understanding how to override the microRNA could allow scientists to activate the virus and then kill it using acyclovir. "Once the virus sticks its head up over the fence, you whack it off for good," Cullen says. "Yes, the person has to have one last cold sore, but it'd be worth it to most people to cure them forever...
Cullen and his colleagues, as well as several biotech firms, are already investigating such treatments and how best to deliver them. "Are any of these viruses fatal?" Cullen says. "No. But there are a lot of people who'd be thrilled never to have a cold sore again...