Nuke said:
Does anyone know anything about Antigenic drift in influenza viruses??
Isn't that something to do with natural mutations in the Antigens present on the virion surface? I think it's cause by ribosomal errors in virus assembly. Basically the virus is reproducing at such a fast rate that you get errors when the proteins are being built. These errors cause the antigen sites to change conformation - thus making them unrecognisable by your immune system. Hence why flu is always one step ahead!!
Something like that anyway.