Professor Helen Saibil’s UK team of scientists at Birkbeck College now understands a lot more about a protein called perforin, called our ‘body’s weapon of cleansing and death” by project leader Proessor James Whisstock, from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

“Perforin is a powerful bullet in the arsenal of our immune system — without it we could not deal with the thousands of rogue cells that turn up in our bodies through our lives,” says Professor Saibil.

The perforin protein works by punching holes into cells that have been invaded by viruses, including cancer. Toxic enzymes enter the cell structures to kill the viruses.