How are scientists able to see viruses? And will we ever be able to treat the diseases they cause, even though viruses are so tiny and primitive?
--Marisa Mackey, Hoboken, New Jersey
David M. Sander, a virologist and producer of the Web site All The Virology on the WWW, responds:
The largest viruses-those of the oddly shaped Filovirus family, which includes Ebola--are only about one ten-thousandth the diameter of a pea. But it has become fairly routine to study viruses with the help of scanning electron microscopes. Computer models also help scientists visualize the protein structures of viruses. * We now have drugs that block the activity of influenza (amantadine and rimantadine), as well as medications for hepatitis (interferon) and herpes viruses (vidarabine). And after a massive research effort, we finally have limited treatments for HIV. We still lack effective general antiviral drugs, however. Computer-aided rational drug design may improve the situation by uncovering ways to target specific chemical weaknesses in viruses.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Discover
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
Contact
Home
A
Hydrocodone