A three-dimensional model of an HIV virus. Researchers are exploring
the use of lasers and sound waves to attack viruses. Credit:
3DScience.comNew Way to Kill Viruses: Shake Them to DeathBy Michael
Schirber, Special to LiveScienceposted: 05 February 2008 09:27 am
ETScientists may one day be able to destroy viruses in the same way
that opera singers presumably shatter wine glasses. New research
mathematically determined the frequencies at which simple viruses could
be shaken to death."The capsid of a virus is something like the shell
of a turtle," said physicist Otto Sankey of Arizona State
University. "If the shell can be compromised [by mechanical
vibrations], the virus can be inactivated."Recent experimental evidence
has shown that laser pulses tuned to the right frequency can kill
certain viruses. However, locating these so-called resonant frequencies
is a bit of trial and error."Experiments must just try a wide variety
of conditions and hope that conditions are found that can lead to
success," Sankey told LiveScience.To expedite this search, Sankey and
his student Eric Dykeman have developed a way to calculate the
vibrational motion of every atom in a virus shell. From this, they can
determine the lowest resonant frequencies.As an example of their
technique, the team modeled the satellite tobacco necrosis virus and
found this small virus resonates strongly around 60 Gigahertz (where
one Gigahertz is a billion cycles per second), as reported in the Jan.
14 issue of Physical Review Letters.

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Posted By Jeff Sutherland to Dr. Jeff Sutherland's Electronic Medicine
at 2/13/2008 07:46:00 AM