Genetic Code of Common Cold Cracked

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There is hope that a careful study of the viral genomes will reveal one central point of attack that could be exploited by drug makers. "What we would like is a single Achilles' heel for all the viruses that we have found so far, and we could attack in that direction," Liggett said.

But the viruses are found to have impressive powers of change. The study shows that some human rhinoviruses result from the exchange of genetic material from two separate strains infecting the same person. Such recombination had not been thought possible for rhinoviruses.

That recombination is one reason why a vaccine against the common cold appears to be impossible, said Ann C. Palmenberg, director of the Institute for Molecular Virology at the University of Wisconsin, and lead author of the sequencing effort. The viruses just keep changing too much.

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A second reason is that the rhinoviruses do their dirty work on the mucosa, the outer lining of the inner nose, Palmenberg said. "We're not good at making vaccines that give mucosal protection," she said.

But there is hope for a single drug that would be effective against many rhinoviruses, Palmenberg and Liggett agreed. "Drugs have the probability of taking out multiple serotypes at one time," Palmenberg said.

Who would develop such a drug? "The most likely scenario is that a small biotechnology company would begin the work, and as they made progress, they would get the attention of a larger drug company," Liggett said. "Occasionally, a biotechnology can keep the ball rolling all the way through. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds."

More information

Detailed information on the common cold and the viruses that cause it is available from the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

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