{"id":25867,"date":"2011-11-07T01:08:01","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T01:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptogon.com\/?p=25867"},"modified":"2011-11-07T01:08:01","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T01:08:01","slug":"researchers-creating-ultimate-flu-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cryptogon.com\/?p=25867","title":{"rendered":"‘Researchers Creating Ultimate Flu Shot’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Get ready for more autoimmune diseases.<\/p>\n

Via: CBS<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in the front line of discovery,\u201d said Dr. Beatrice Fontoura. She and her team at UT Southwestern have discovered a compound that works to fight multiple strains of the flu, including the deadly Spanish Flu that killed millions of people around the world in 1918.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are doing is something different,\u201d said Fontoura, explaining her research. \u201cWe are actually stimulating our own response which is already there \u2013 boost it \u2013 to fight an infection.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The compound targets a specific protein called REDD-1, which is responsible for helping cells fight infection. The scientists discovered that when there is less REDD-1 protein in a cell, viruses like the flu can invade and corrupt the cell in a matter of hours. But when this compound is added, boosting the presence of the REDD-1 protein, the flu (no matter what strain) is held at bay. \u201cWe tested different strains \u2014 from less pathogenic strains to highly pathogenic strains,\u201d Fontoura said, \u201cand it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current vaccine can often be ineffective, Fontoura said, if the flu virus mutates. This is why so many people who get a flu shot still get sick. However, this new compound would bypass that mutation, using your body \u2013 instead of the virus \u2013 to fight back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very exciting. We\u2019re all excited about it,\u201d Fontoura said. \u201cMore is yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The general public is still several years away from seeing this compound available at the local drug stores, Fontoura said, but she believes that this is the most promising step yet toward creating the ultimate weapon against the flu.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Get ready for more autoimmune diseases. Via: CBS: \u201cWe are in the front line of discovery,\u201d said Dr. Beatrice Fontoura. She and her team at UT Southwestern have discovered a compound that works to fight multiple strains of the flu, including the deadly Spanish Flu that killed millions of people around the world in 1918. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-kill-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptogon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptogon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptogon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptogon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptogon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptogon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptogon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptogon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptogon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}