Steve Liggett, a genetic scientist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute for Genome Sciences, Baltimore, led a study team that identified the DNA sequences of all the known strains of the rhinovirus that causes the common cold.
It is hoped that other scientists that are working towards a cure for the common cold will be able to make use of there findings by targeting drugs at area's they all have in common.
A cure or even effective treatment for the virus has so far eluded scientists as it constantly changes its genetic make up, but after studying the virus's genes they found that there was a few area's that remained the same.
The rhinovirus is also responsible for half of all asthma attacks, so any any advances that would help protect people from them would alleviate suffering for millions of people the world over and save billions of pounds in medical costs and lost work production.
Lets hope it wont be long before a cure can be found, I for one will not miss the yearly round of colds that seem to drag on forever.
Curing the common cold will undoubtedly raise other serious issues.
What would people use as an excuse to miss a few days at work if the cold is finally cured?
Would it also cure man flu? You can check for this at http://www.manflu.org.uk
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