We are one step closer to finding a cure for the common cold and we have Irish researchers to thank.

Scientists from Trinity College Dublin are part of an international team which may have tapped into the cure for one of the most common viruses worldwide.

Published in the scientific journal, Nature Communications, the study looks at how viruses cause disease in humans.

Professor John O'Leary, the Chair of Pathology at Trinity College, revealed the team had discovered that an ancient cell-process in plants and mammals can have the same effect on viruses in humans.

"It's been around for a long time probably in excess 1.5 billion years," he said 

"This is an extremely old conserved biologically process which is found in plants and we are aware that it also enhances viral disease in life.

"The identification of the protein but also precisely where it is in the cell is hugely important."

Here's hoping those seasonal sniffles will soon be a thing of the past.