The drugs, which are still a long way away from human testing, let alone the market, work by latching onto a form of RNA only generated by viruses inside living cells and signalling those cells to kill themselves, MIT reports:

"In theory, it should work against all viruses," says Todd Rider, a senior staff scientist in Lincoln Laboratory's Chemical, Biological, and Nanoscale Technologies Group who invented the new technology.

Cell suicide stops viruses because the organisms reproduce by reprogramming cells to become virus factories. Human cells have their own natural self-destruct systems, but many viruses have evolved mechanisms to short circuit them.

MIT researchers call their new drugs Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizers, or DRACO, which could make them a hit among older James Bond fans and younger Harry Potter fans, not to mention people with colds or far more severe infections.

Via Tinker Ready.

The Herald reports Sears is thinking of moving its national headquarters out of a Chicago suburb and that Boston and Washington are the top two contenders. However, the Herald quotes some Debbie Downer analyst, who says Sears is probably just trying to wrangle some tax breaks out of its current hometown, a suburb nobody outside of Illinois has ever heard of.

Boston Police say they've stanched the flow of underage South Shore residents who'd been flocking to the pub as an easy place to get a drink.

At a Boston Licensing Board hearing this morning, Det. Michael Talbot said he paid a visit to Biddy Early's on Pearl Street on June 13 after somebody dropped a dime to A-1 about South Shore kids making regular runs to the place.

While talking to two under-21 patrons, he said, five more people walked in, all of whom turned out to be under 21 and one of whom had somebody else's New Hampshire ID, he said. All but one of the seven were from South Shore or nearby communities - Quincy, Whitman, Weymouth, Halifax and Newton - Talbot said.

Although he did not observe any actually drinking - and a bartender pointed out one who said he was a designated driver - some did smell of booze, he said. He added all told him this was not their first visit to the small establishment, which had not been in trouble with police or the licensing board before.

Talbot said the popularity of the place among South Shore kids concerns him because of the potential that "underage kids drink at a [distant] bar, then drive home and kill someone on the way home."

Biddy Early's attorney Dennis Quilty said the person with the New Hampshire ID tried to buy a drink but was turned away by a bartender. Talbot said the bar appeared to have cleaned up its act when he made a visit a few days ago.

The board decides Thursday what action to take, if any, for citations Talbot issued for underage patrons on the premises and failure to properly inspect IDs.