How Compound in bananas could help us fight viruses Like HIV, Hepatitis and more

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In a report detailing their work, the University of Michigan research team explain that the banana compound they focused on as part of this investigation is a protein known as banana lectin, or BanLec for short.

The scientists say they first started researching this protein about five years ago, when they learned that it could keep HIV from infecting cells. The trouble was that, at the same time, the compound would cause irritation and inflammation. So, the team had to give up experimenting with it.

Not long ago, however, they managed to engineer a form of BanLec that, while still able to protect cells against intruders, no longer caused any noteworthy side effects such as irritation and inflammation. It was this lab-made form of BanLec that they focused on in their latest experiments.

As detailed in the journal Cell, the form of BanLec that the scientists created, called H84T, fought off HIV, hepatitis C and the influenza virus in tissue and blood samples. Then, it protected lab mice against the flu.