A cure for the common cold

I’ve been in house confinement for more than a week now, growing more frustrated each day that for all of its accomplishments, science still hasn’t beaten the common cold virus.

But maybe it’s about to.

The BBC reports today that Todd Rider, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is developing an antiviral drug that’s proven it works against 15 viruses — including the common cold — to which it has been applied in mice.

But other scientists are skeptical because the research was published in a journal that doesn’t have a peer-review system. They also note a breakthrough could be years away from being tested on humans.

In the meantime, the rest of us will continue to be smitten by viruses passed to us, no doubt, by the colleague who came to work sick to show what a team player he/she is.