Should DRACO be effective against virtually all viruses?
A big news from MIT: MIT Lincoln Laboratory researchers develop a technique to cure a broad range of viruses
Dr. Todd Rider and his team have developed and demonstrated a novel broad-spectrum antiviral approach, called DRACO (for Double-stranded RNA
dsRNAActivated Caspase Oligomerizer). DRACO selectively induces apoptosis, or cell suicide, in cells containing any viral dsRNA, rapidly killing infected cells without harming uninfected cells. As a result, DRACO should be effective against virtually all viruses, rapidly terminating a viral infection while minimizing the impact on the patient.
BUT, Should DRACO be effective against virtually all viruses?
I think there are many problem. First, DRACO can only senses double-stranded RNA, and DRACO just senses long ( >~23nt ) dsRNA, so it just can senses a limit of viruses. Second, DRACO is a chimeric protein, how to delivery it into our body without proteolysis? The delivery mechanism may a big problem. Third, viruses have some tricks use to inhibit apoptosis. So, DRACOs seems not effective against virually all viruses.
BTW: Is Dr. Todd a fan of Harry Potter ? ;)