Possible new target to attack flu virus identified

A protein produced by the influenza A virus helps it outwit one of our body's natural defense mechanisms, researchers have found. That makes the protein a potentially good target for antiviral drugs directed against the influenza A virus. When an influenza virus infects a human cell, it uses some of the host's cellular machinery to make copies of itself, or replicate. In this study, the researchers discovered that a protein produced by human body cells, DDX21, blocks this replication process.