New UMBC research finds that viruses may have “eyes and ears” on us

Abstract

New UMBC-led research in Frontiers in Microbiology suggests that viruses are usinginformation from their environment to “decide” when to sit tight inside their hosts andwhen to multiply and burst out, killing the host cell. The work has implications forantiviral drug development. A virus’s ability to sense its environment, including elements produced by its host,adds “another layer of complexity to the viral-host interaction,” says Ivan Erill ,professor of biological sciences and senior author on the new paper. Right now,viruses are exploiting that ability to their benefit. But in the future, he says, “we couldexploit it to their detriment.”