Double Agent

In a few decades time you might be given a virus as a vaccination. Viruses cause disease by spreading easily throughout the body and inserting their genetic material into the host’s DNA, but this could make modified, non-harmful viruses useful to medicine. Such viruses – including types of adenovirus (AdV) – could be used to insert vaccines or working copies of genes to treat genetic diseases. Current research is examining how they enter cells and transmit their DNA. This image shows neurons containing Coxsackievirus adenovirus receptor (CAR), a cell receptor that viruses such as AdV use to enter cells. CAR runs through the cell’s outer membrane: the part outside is shown in green, and the inside part in red. Adenoviruses have been shown to treat genetic diseases in dogs and are being trialled for use in rabies vaccines. Soon the idea of fighting virus with virus may not seem so strange.

Written by Esther Redhouse White

Esther Redhouse White

Writer

A recent Biochemistry graduate from York, Esther has worked on bacterial killing proteins and genetic switches in worms. In her spare time she likes visiting museums full of skeletons.

• Image by Eric J. Kremer
• Université de Montpellier, France
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Research published in PLOS Pathogens, June 2015