Proteins that bind to the 1918 pandemic influenza virus have been designed using computer modelling. The viral surface protein haemagglutinin is essential to the flu virus's infection of human cells, making it an attractive drug target. David Baker at the University of Washington in Seattle and his colleagues computed 'hot spots' - protein residues that can interact with haemagglutinin - from the 1918 virus on the basis of properties such as the predicted strength of their interaction with this protein.
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