As the year comes to a close, people are starting to puke. The notorious stomach bug known as norovirus is starting its annual rampage,, which will last from late fall through winter. A couple years ago, in the midst of another norovirus season, I wrote about the virus’s spectacular biology on the Loom. Noroviruses (unlike the Ebola virus) are extraordinarily rugged, able to waft through the air and survive for days on surfaces where it can cause a new infection. In a scientific review, one CDC scientist went so far as to declare, “noroviruses are perhaps the perfect human pathogen.”

This exquisite potency makes noroviruses a massive burden on our collective health. According to the latest estimates, noroviruses infect about 20