Medical researchers at Iowa State University say they’ve found a sort of “on-off switch” in a protein that could be used to help the body fight infection. I-S-U biochemistry professor Amy Andreotti says the discovery of the “switch” could lead to all sorts of disease treatments.While more research is needed, Professor Andreotti says the identification of the protein cell’s on-off switch may eventually bring advances in treating a variety of immune system-related afflictions. The protein switches may be connected to H-I-V infection but that hasn’t been explored yet. We’re still trying to understand how a healthy cell works before we can comprehend how a cell in a disease state behaves. Andreotti explains what’s next in the quest.The results of Andreotti’s work are being published in “The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”