Some genetically modified mice have the dubious pleasure of being the first lab rodents able to catch a cold (bbc). Researchers twiddled with a cell receptor (ICAM-1) that is attacked by 90% of the 100 known strains of rhinovirus – viruses that cause the common cold, some allergic attacks, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The result was a strain of mice susceptible to sniffles

The paper (subscription required) doesn’t specifically say the mice get runny noses and crave chicken soup, but it does talk about ‘mucin secretion’, airway inflammation, and an immune response. Previously rhinoviruses only affected higher primates, making comprehensive research on small animals impossible, which could be one of the reasons a cure for the common cold remains so famously elusive.

AFP takes the opportunity to put in some backstory on the Common Cold Unit, which experimented on British volunteers from 1946 to 1989. It never cracked the problem, but it apparently provided various people with a cheap if eccentric holiday destination (Telegraph blog post).

The ICAM-1 story is one of those that, once you’ve seen it, you don’t understand why it hasn’t happened before. Perhaps there’s little money for drug companies in curing the cold, which must boost sales of all those sniffly-sneezy-so-you-can-sleep medications. Personally I’d actually be a little sad if we managed to eradicate the cold, as it provides such a delicious excuse to be pampered for a day or two. I won’t be selfish though; since there are far more serious rhinovirus infections, I’ll support the search for a cure.

A big thumbs down to anyone who said the mice have flu; that’d be caused by influenza virus, not rhinovirus (in thenews; mirror).

For those interested: a nice piece about cold research by Marek Kohn originally published in a special issue of The Big Issue called The Big Tissue.