THE structure of a key protein of the 1918 flu virus, which killed 40 million people worldwide, has been worked out.
The main surface protein on influenza viruses is called haemagglutinin (HA). For the virus to enter cells, it is thought to have to bind to a sugar called sialic acid on the surface of lung cells. Birds and humans have different forms of sialic acid, which is why bird flu viruses do not usually infect people.
Samples from 1918 flu victims have allowed parts of the 1918 virus, including HA, to be sequenced. Now John Skehel’s team at…
