# DRACO may change the world (an "antibiotic" for viruses) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548 "2011-08-13T04:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/1 "2011-08-13T04:26:07Z")
DRACO. What the hell is that? Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizer What? A new family of drugs that has the potential to cure damn near all viral diseases. Penicillin and antibiotics changed the world. [Draco has the potential to do the same](http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0022572). It binds the dsRNA viruses use to replicate, and induces apoptosis in the infected cell. It has already proven effective against the [common cold, H1N1, Dengue fever, and numerous other viruses.](http://www.plosone.org/article/slideshow.action?uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0022572&imageURI=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0022572.t001) Conceivably, one of these things could cure HIV or any other viral disease you throw it at. So far, it has proven effective on the following: Rhinovirus 18 Rhinovirus 2 Rhinovirus 14 Rhinovirus 30 Theiler’s Encephelomyelitis Dengue Fever 2 Influenza H1N1 A/PR/8/34 Influenza H1N1 A/WS/33 Tacaribe Amapari Guama Be An 277 Guama Be Ar 12590 Reovirus 3 Adenovirus 5 Murine Adenovirus That’s just what they’ve tested so far. Keep in mind, this is NOT a vaccine (though it can be used as such). Unlike a vaccine, a DRACO will take out a disease _even after infection_. It’s a damn cure for the common cold - and other viral diseases that are far far worse. Can you say “Holy Fucking Shit!”. Now, it’s still in early stages, but the potential is there for it to change the face of medicine as we know it. It could be a breakthrough on par with the discovery of penicillin. It’s too early to start handing out Nobel Prizes, but damn this could be huge. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/2 "2011-08-13T04:29:49Z")
Looks like they’re still testing at the cellular level - haven’t arrived at testing animals, let alone people. But, my fingers are crossed. Also, my toes. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/3 "2011-08-13T04:31:50Z")
Yeah, lots and lots of things kill viruses in vitro. It gets messy when you’re talking about a living organism’s biochemistry, though. I hope there’s something to it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/4 "2011-08-13T04:33:32Z")
A supposed miracle drug named DRACO? I smell Bond villain all over this. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/5 "2011-08-13T04:46:05Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Yeah, lots and lots of things kill viruses in vitro. It gets messy when you’re talking about a living organism’s biochemistry, though. I hope there’s something to it, though. From the paper: > [@](#): > > we have developed and demonstrated a novel antiviral approach that is effective against a very broad spectrum of viruses, nontoxic in vitro and **in vivo** , and potentially suitable for either prophylactic or therapeutic administration. Bolding mine. They’ve also done mouse trials. > [@](#): > > 7-week-old female BALB/c mice (Charles River) received DRACO i.n. (~0.5 mg in 50 µl) or i.p. (0.8–2.5 mg in 200 µl). Mice were challenged i.n. with 0.3–1.3 LD50 influenza H1N1 A/PR/8/34. It’s still a long way from human application I admit, but my bachelor’s degree is in Molecular Biology so I absolutely _love_ these initial findings. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/6 "2011-08-13T04:48:25Z")
I know the pace of drug testing and approvals can be tedious, slow and expensive… how long would it take for something like this to start being tested in human trials? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/7 "2011-08-13T04:55:47Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > I know the pace of drug testing and approvals can be tedious, slow and expensive… how long would it take for something like this to start being tested in human trials? 10 - 15 years probably. There is still a lot of research to be done. [Here’s](http://health.usnews.com/health-news/managing-your-healthcare/infectious-diseases/articles/2011/08/11/superdrug-against-range-of-viruses-shows-promise-in-animal-trials) a Newsweek article I just found on DRACO that says “about a decade”. It’s a decent article that explains DRACO in less techical terms than the paper I linked to. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/8 "2011-08-13T11:56:19Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > A supposed miracle drug named DRACO? > > I smell Bond villain all over this. Yeah, but Bond always wins in the end. Personally I think we should wait until Will Smith dies before using this DRACO on the populace… Anyhow, pretty neat news all the way around. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/9 "2011-08-13T15:16:43Z")
Miracle drug? That’s what they say now but it always leads to Zombies. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/10 "2011-08-13T16:58:17Z")
It could have been on the market long before now, but they took a lot of time thinking up a cool acronym for it. I mean, it’s not like anyone will want to take, say, Joe’s Antiviral Drug. You need to have a name that’ll look good on billboards. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/11 "2011-08-13T18:21:14Z")
An antibiotic for viruses? If only there were a name for that, anti… anti… something 😉 > [@Quimby](#): > > Miracle drug? That’s what they say now but it always leads to Zombies. No, look at the name. The worlds population will turn into vampires. It will be like that Daybreakers movie. Either that, or we’ll all turn into smarmy little shits like the kid from Harry Potter. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/12 "2011-08-13T18:54:49Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > From the paper: > Bolding mine. They’ve also done mouse trials. > It’s still a long way from human application I admit, but my bachelor’s degree is in Molecular Biology so I absolutely _love_ these initial findings. I don’t mean to be cynical, just cautious. I go to presentations every month that use the same wording. “We’ve done trials in vitro and in vivo! It works! We’re gonna be rich!” Only it never seems to work out that way. They get bogged down in reproducibility, or the statistics are slightly more problematic than they at first let on. Something. Seriously. At least once a month. I remember V520 going to Phase 2 trials, and another (although the name escapes me now) going to Phase 3 trials. Both had huge promise as an AIDS vaccine. Both were initially shown to work in vitro and in vivo in model organisms. Both ended up failing. Viruses are tough nuts to crack. I’m always hopeful when I hear stuff like this, but very, very, very cautious. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/13 "2011-08-13T21:03:15Z")
And even if it’s the greatest thing since moldy bread, doctors will give it to whiny morons for the common cold, and resistance will show up within a year or two. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/14 "2011-08-13T21:59:29Z")
Holy flurking schmidt. This looks like it’d work. Even if this specific formulation fails, the concept certainly looks like it’d be worth more testing. It’d be great for NBC issues. And umlaut, it’s effective against rhinoviruses. That _is_ the common cold. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/15 "2011-08-14T04:12:56Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Holy flurking schmidt. This looks like it’d work. Even if this specific formulation fails, the concept certainly looks like it’d be worth more testing. It’d be great for NBC issues. > > And umlaut, it’s effective against rhinoviruses. That _is_ the common cold. Of course. But he’s arguing that, like antibiotics, they will be prescribed when the body could deal with the disease on its own, and eventually, viruses will develop resistance from such overuse. Seeing as viruses mutate more quickly than even bacteria, this is a possible outcome. If there are non dsRNA viruses, or a way to get around it, it’s almost certain to happen, to some extent. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draco-may-change-the-world-an-antibiotic-for-viruses/592548/16 "2011-08-14T18:05:48Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > And even if it’s the greatest thing since moldy bread, doctors will give it to whiny morons for the common cold, and resistance will show up within a year or two. I took this to mean that the moron in question will not take the drug according to directions, and will also stop taking the drug as soon as said moron “feels better” instead of taking the entire prescribed amount, thus leaving some of the nasty little buggers around to develop resistance we are borg. resistance is futile, unless you are a microbe…sorry, couldn’t resist