01/09/2015

The Cold Virus Seeks Safety in the Nose

6:28 minutes

Bundle up if you don’t want to catch a cold, goes the saying. Immunobiologist Akiko Iwasaki and her colleagues probed that notion in a mouse study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Iwasaki describes how colder temperatures affect the immune system, which might allow the cold virus to thrive in the safety of a frosty nose.

Segment Guests

Akiko Iwasaki

Akiko Iwasaki is a professor of Immunobiology at the Yale Medical School in New Haven, Connecticut.

Meet the Producer

About Alexa Lim

Alexa Lim was a senior producer for Science Friday. Her favorite stories involve space, sound, and strange animal discoveries.