by Natalie Z
Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania discovered that the Ebola virus actually disables tetherin, which is a protein that attacks viruses from spreading to other cells. Tetherin is very a very unique protein. It holds the power to slow down or even stop the spread of viruses moving on to the next cell in the body.
Scientists are hoping that they can study tetherin and whether they can find out how to use it to block out the viruses. According to the article, tetherin is also used to block HIV, and may even be used for developing therapeutics for people battling Ebola or other viruses. I feel this small breakthrough could become a very useful research tool for scientists, and may actually guide them in studying how viruses attack cells and how to end that vicious cycle.
Source: Science Daily
