Another example of how taxpayer-backed scientific research benefits everyone:
Researchers said Thursday that they had decoded the genomes of the 99 strains of common cold virus and developed a catalog of its vulnerabilities.
“We are now quite certain that we see the Achilles’ heel, and that a very effective treatment for the common cold is at hand,” said Stephen B. Liggett, an asthma expert at the University of Maryland and co-author of the finding.
Industry hurdles aside, perhaps the biggest reason the common cold has long defied treatment is that the rhinovirus has so many strains and presents a moving target for any drug or vaccine.
By comparing the 99 genomes with one another, the researchers were able to arrange them in a family tree based on similarities in their genomes. That family tree shows that some regions of the rhinovirus genome are changing all the time but that others never change.
..The fact that the unchanging regions are so conserved over the course of evolutionary time means that they perform vital roles and that the virus cannot let them change without perishing. They are therefore ideal targets for drugs because, in principle, any of the 99 strains would succumb to the same drug.
While I'm on the subject, don't waste your money on Airborne if you get a cold. You're best bet:
Frequent hand-washing is the best preventive, Dr. Miller said. Once a cold has started, she recommended washing out the nasal passages, warm drinks and rest.
Also:
Blowing your nose to alleviate stuffiness may be second nature, but..it does no good, reversing the flow of mucus into the sinuses and slowing the drainage. The proper method is to blow one nostril at a time and to take decongestants, said Dr. Anil Kumar Lalwani, chairman of the department of otolaryngology at the NYU Langone Medical Center. This prevents a buildup of excess pressure.
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