The key to fighting viruses: Understanding their structure is vital to unlock a healthy future for humanity

There is no cure for the common cold. But there are cures — or at least vaccines — for other viruses, and researchers are working hard to build a toolbox to be able to rapidly develop vaccines for new and emerging viruses. Viruses are so small that tens of millions of them can fit on the head of a pin. Understanding, let alone fighting, something so infinitesimally small is a crowning challenge of modern medicine. The physical structure of its molecules dictates how a virus infects people and moves through their bodies as well as how to formulate effective vaccines and treatments. That physical structure is precisely the expertise of molecular virologist Richard Kuhn, the Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor in Science in Purdue University’s College of Science and Krenicki Family Director of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease. He is harnessing that expertise to lay the groundwork for...