Adenoviruses are the culprits behind many of the more common illnesses that affect us. The adenovirus is typically only responsible for respiratory illness, but this means it tends to manifest as anything from the common cold to pneumonia to bronchitis. Part of what makes the adenovirus such a nuisance among the human population is that the virus itself is abnormally stable outside of the human body, which means it’s easier to transmit and catch.

The adenovirus is a relatively tame virus. It’s classified as a virus of medium size (meaning it’s not terribly complex), but while the virus may lack complication, it makes up for it with sophistication. Adenovirus has the ability to use a limited range of protein signalers to interact with the immune system in a variety of different ways. This makes it more difficult to lock down and prevent the virus from taking action.

Chris Benedict, Ph.D., is curious about just how adenovirus manages to interact with the body’s TRAIL system. TRAIL stands for “TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand”. To simplify, the adenovirus knows how to inhibit the ability of your immune system to kill infected cells in the body by targeting TRAIL and other ways your immune system can induce cell death (apoptosis) in the human body. Benedict’s efforts in studying adenovirus and TRAIL are to open up more understanding of how this process works. The research also has the possibility to extend to other areas, such as cancer research. Targeting TRAIL is one of the very newest, and most promising, anti-tumor therapies being pursued by various large pharmaceutical companies, meaning that Benedict’s work on this disease can carry a truly broad impact.