FSU scientist Hengli Tang has spent years studying Hepatitis C and researching how to stop its spread.
"We're really not working on a vaccine, we're working on drug candidates to treat the virus," says Tang, who explains that Hepatitis C is a blood born pathogen which causes inflammation of the liver.
He and a team of researchers have discovered the molecular mechanism that inhibits the virus' replication.
"Hepatitis C is such a widespread problem in the United States," says post-doctoral associate Jason Robotham.
"We are looking to improve the measures for identifying the candidate drugs that can stop the viral infection. That's our long-term goal," adds Tang, who hopes his research helps combat a virus which has already affected close to four million Americans.
The Centers for Disease Control reports 2.7 million Americans are chronically affected by Hepatitis C.