The cold is one of the most common illnesses of humans. In the Unites States alone, there are more than one billion colds each year. Typically a cold produces sneezing, scratchy throat, and a runny nose for one or two weeks. The causes of the common cold are viruses.

More than 200 different viruses can cause a cold. Rhinoviruses account for anywhere from 35% to over half of all colds, particularly in younger and older people. This has likely been the case for millennia. Indeed, the name Rhinovirus is from the Greek word rhin, meaning, "nose." There are over one hundred different types of Rhinovirus, based on the different proteins that are on the surface of the virus particle. Rhinovirus belongs to the virus family Picornaviridae. The genetic material of the virus is ribonucleic acid (RNA) and the genome is of a very small size.

Rhinovirus is spread...