Scientists are one step closer to curing the flu and the common cold

They found a defense mechanism that opens the door to new therapies for these common ailments.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge claim to have made a crucial discovery regarding the functioning of the immune system against viruses, allowing the development of a new class of drugs for ailments like the flu or the common cold.

The discovery is a novel mechanism by which the human body fights infections and opens the door to new therapies for diseases such as common cold, gastroenteritis and the stomach flu that actually is not a flu.

Research in the University of Cambridge Laboratory of Molecular Biology, has shown that human antibodies can continue to fight the virus once they have entered the cells and have been infected.

The finding debunks the orthodox scientific basis that antibodies are only effective when they act in the bloodstream and can not attack the virus once they have gained entry into the cells of the infected individual.

Viruses are the main killers of humanity, responsible each year for twice as many deaths than cancer, and they are very difficult to combat.

The breakthrough is that, knowing that the cells are not “forbidden ground” for antibodies, new drugs can be developed with a radically different design that would transform therapies against viral infections.

The conclusions of the study, published Tuesday on the journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’, scientists led by Professor Leo James noted that “physicians have a multitude of antibiotics to combat bacterial infections, but have few antiviral drugs.”

“While we are in the preliminary stages and still do not know if all viruses are affected by this mechanism, we are excited that our discovery may open many avenues for new drugs,” he said.

The deputy director of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, Greg Winter, noted that “antibodies are formidable molecular war machines which, as we know now, can also attack the virus inside cells.”

“This research not only represents a leap in our understanding of how and where work antibodies. In general, it is a leap in our understanding of the mechanisms related to immunology and infection,” he added.