A chink in flu’s armor

A protein's structure reveals a target for new drugs

If the avian flu virus were a dragon, scientists have found what would be its soft underbelly.

Flu viruses make a protein that enables the viruses to replicate, and a new study that reveals the nooks and crannies in this protein suggests means of blocking it — and thus of stopping the common and avian forms of the virus from reproducing and spreading.