{"id":6677,"date":"2012-07-17T16:57:20","date_gmt":"2012-07-17T06:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/?p=6677"},"modified":"2012-07-26T11:21:10","modified_gmt":"2012-07-26T01:21:10","slug":"first-images-of-the-common-cold-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/medicine\/first-images-of-the-common-cold-virus\/","title":{"rendered":"First images of the common cold virus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/p>\n

Cut away view of the common cold virus exposes RNA interior. Photo: University of Melbourne<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Saving lives one 3D image at a time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although common cold isn’t perceived as a major health threat, if a patient has asthma or COPD<\/a>, it\u00a0may lead to complications\u00a0that require hospitalisation. That is why, researchers at the University of Melbourne are developing a new antiviral drug to treat the common cold.<\/p>\n

The team of researchers led by professor Michael Parker, from St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research and the University of Melbourne, is using IBM Blue Gene\/Q<\/a>, the most powerful supercomputer in the Southern Hemisphere, to generate 3D computer simulations of a virus. The images will help the researchers understand the way in which the new drug works. “Supercomputer technology enables us to delve deeper in the mechanisms at play inside a human cell, particularly how drugs work at a molecular level,”\u009d said Parker.<\/p>\n

The images are also considered the first simulation of a common cold virus, and they are paving the way to better and more efficient medications.\u00a0The technology may also hold the key to a healthier future, as it can help in the development of other antivirus treatments.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Viral capsid proteins with drug binding site in yellow. Image: University of Melbourne<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: The University of Melbourne<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saving lives one 3D image at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,101,48,5],"tags":[419,496,848,497],"class_list":["post-6677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amazing-images","category-bulls-eye","category-health","category-medicine","tag-australian-science","tag-common-cold","tag-news","tag-virus"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6677"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6677"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6848,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6677\/revisions\/6848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceillustrated.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}