Snuffed Sniffles

Finding a cure for the common cold has been an elusive goal for generations. The reason: there are more than 100 different types of rhinoviruses, the culprits responsible for about half of all colds. Now scientists may have the key to warding off the sniffles. Reporting in the journal Cell last week, two separate research teams announced the discovery of a cell molecule to which rhinoviruses attach themselves. When the cold viruses bind to the molecule, known as the ICAM-1 receptor, they infect the cell.

The discovery means that synthetic copies of the molecule might one day be made into a decoy medicine. Sprayed into the nose, the drug could confuse invading rhinoviruses, luring them away from the real cell receptors in the body. Once bound to the synthetic, the viruses could be neutralized and thus prevented from causing colds. But that strategy, which might prevent but probably would not cure an active cold, has thus far worked only in the test tube. Relief is still years away.