Colonno, taking advantage of these common receptors, devised a strategy for blocking the attachment of rhinoviruses to their appropriate receptors.

Online footage of the incident involving news anchor Tatyana Limanova went viral in both Russia and the West causing REN TV, her employer, huge embarrassment.

Novavax, another American start-up, has had similarly promising results using “virus-like particles” (made of non-infectious viral proteins purged of genetic material).