Providing a very promising lead to better therapies for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, a team of researchers at Washington School of Medicine has discovered that the virus produces a protein — NS1 (nonstructural protein 1)– to alter the activity of human immune genes for its survival. This in turn sabotages the immune response to RSV infection. This can offer better leads for new therapies as the study has figured out how the virus undermines the body’s defenses, a step toward understanding why the virus is capable of causing serious illness in vulnerable populations.