The paper , published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), explains how gold nanorods were used to stabilise and deliver a single strand RNA molecule. When delivered the RNA prompts a strong immune response to inhibit viral replication.
RNA often degrades when it enters cells but the gold nanorods protect it. The researchers believe the approach could be used to target any viruses which are susceptible to the type 1 interferon innate immune response.