Molecular surface of the capsid of human rhinovirus 16, one of the viruses which cause the common cold. Protein spikes are coloured grey for visual clarity. The resemblance to a football is due to the fact that both posess icosahedral symmetry.

Professor Johnston said: “Until now it has not been possible to study rhinovirus infection in small animals. This has been a major obstacle to developing treatments and there is currently no effective treatment for rhinovirus infection.”

It had been thought that mice and other small animals were resistant to rhinoviruses. Of the 100 known strains of the virus, 90% use a binding molecule, called ICAM-1 that is found on the surface of human cells, as their receptor. But the viruses are unable to bind to the mouse version of this receptor.

“We previously found that once inside the mouse cell a rhinovirus reproduces itself as well as it does in human cells. But the virus couldn’t infect the mouse cell because the receptor couldn’t get into the cell.

“We have now modified the mouse receptor so it is more like a human one. This means the virus infects the cells of these modified mice,” said Professor Johnston.

The team also found that when the virus was combined with an allergic reaction, the mouse responded similarly to humans. This means it could be a good model for the study of severe asthma attacks.

“These mouse models should provide a majour boost to research efforts to develop new treatments for common cold, as well as for more potentially fatal illnesses such as acute attacks of asthma and COPD,” said Johnson.