Lusus Naturae - Persistent as the Common Cold

From GiantMicrobes. You'd want to cuddle up with a fluffy version of the cold bug you have right now.

This transitional time between late winter and early spring is one of the most miserable times in the year.  Not only is the view from the lab office window dreary (a literal 50 Shades of Grey, without the prurient lexicon)--the season is accompanied by a loud cacophony of sneezes.

Yes, it's the cold-and-flu season. And, despite the vaccine I got last November, I still got floored by the bug in mid-February. Whether it's the flu virus or the more pesky rhinovirus (a family of virus behind the bane called "the common cold"), I had no idea. Being a stubborn woman with a PhD-student-guilt, after spending one day at home, I forced myself to report to the lab the next day, with near-disastrous results (i.e., ending up sicker than the day before).

But one email alert caught my eye during that time--a very informative article discussing about the role and mechanism of rhinoviruses responsible for the common cold.  What made me smile is that the secret behind the speed of mutations for these bugs (hence their persistence in infecting us) is their inherent simplicity in structure.

We should be as persistent as the common cold when working for our goals, it seems.