For the past couple of years, a bug called a norovirus has torpedoed the fun for many an ocean-cruise passenger.Spreading rapidly throughout a ship, the virus causes extreme diarrhea, vomiting and other stomach distress that can leave you wishing you were on the Titanic. In some cases, even a thorough scrubbing after the ship returns to port has failed to vanquish it.Now, a breakthrough at Washington University is yielding new insight into a virus that is a major cause of human disease worldwide. On Monday, researchers here said they are the first to grow a norovirus in the lab, a feat that could lead to a vaccine against the nasty disease it causes.The local work involved growing mouse norovirus MNV-1 inside the cells of mice with defective immune systems. But the researchers hope the work will help other scientists duplicate the accomplishment with human forms of the virus. The new study was published this week in the online journal Public Library of Science-Biology.
