Pressurized virus blasts its infectious DNA into human cells

The virus that causes those painful lip blisters known as cold sores has an internal pressure eight times higher than a car tire, and uses it to literally blast its infectious DNA into human cells, scientists are reporting in a new study. Discovery of the pressure-driven infection mechanism — the first in a human virus — opens the door to new treatments for viral infections, they add in a study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Alex Evilevitch and colleagues point out that the viruses responsible for influenza, AIDS and other infections that affect millions of people annually are quick to develop resistance to drugs that target viral proteins. Through genetic mutations, these proteins can quickly disguise themselves and evade anti-viral drugs. That has led to a search for vulnerabilities that don’t involve viral proteins. Evilevitch’s team looked at the pressure inside the herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), the virus...