Bird Flu's long tail could signal its end

Influenza A viruses, which include common flu and avian influenza, have a long protein tail. Now, US scientists have obtained an atom-by-atom crystallographic structure of this component, which could provide a new target for antiviral drugs to tackle the disease.¹

Jane Tao and colleagues at Rice University in Houston, working with Robert Krug's team at the University of Texas at Austin, used X-ray crystallography to show that even small changes in the structure of the long, flexible tail of the influenza virus' nucleoprotein will prevent the virus from replicating.