One way to disrupt a mechanical process is to throw a wrench into the works. This also holds true for viruses, biological parasites that hijack a cell's reproductive mechanisms to replicate themselves. The key though to successful sabotage is knowing precisely where to toss the wrench.

Jennifer A. Doudna, a UC Berkeley professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is aiding the hunt for this kind of Achilles' Heel in the Hepatitis virus. According to the Center for Disease Control, nearly 4 million Americans and 170 million people worldwide have been infected with Hepatitis C, one of the strains Doudna studies. The failure of available therapies results in 10,000 deaths every year just in this country.

Read the Complete article at ScienceMatters@Berkeley.