Researchers at the University of the West of Scotland have discovered a protein that can stop viruses developing. The team had already established that the same protein can suppress cancer. Now the fight is on to fully understand how it works in the hope of turning the laboratory research into a treatment. The protein is called Hira. Now working at the University of the West of Scotland, Dr Rai and his colleagues have now established the same Hira protein combats viruses too. It is going to take some time, probably years, before this work can move out of the lab and into clinics and hospitals. But the researchers are excited – and confident Hira will one day be the basis of a new approach in medicine.
