The common cold, everyone has had at least one. In fact the average person can expect to have about fifty of them during his or her lifetime, which usually occur during childhood, but what causes these colds (Newton 199)? What can be done to prevent or even cure them? What are the symptoms and how are they caused? Many of these questions have puzzled doctors and scientists for years. The common cold seems such a simple illness, and in a world where we have deciphered the genetic code, you would think we could find a cure to this infirmity that has plagued mankind since the beginning of time.

The definition of a common cold is ."...a viral infection of the upper respiratory system." (Newton 199). More than 200 different viruses can cause a cold, but the rhinovirus causes about thirty to fifty percent of most colds. Colds are the mostcommon infection...