A father and son research team came up with a novel new use of lasers: using them to knock the socks off of viruses in human blood. While the laser method could not really work in curing someone of a virus, the process does hold promise in sterilizing blood used for transfusions. 

“Our laser repeatedly sends a rapid pulse of light and then relaxes, allowing the solution surrounding the virus to cool off,” Shaw-Wei David Tsen said; Tsen is the younger of the Tsens.

The low-power laser fries at frequencies that can selectively nail viruses, but leave the human cells around them unharmed. The laser doesn't destroy viruses through heat -- but through vibrations, instead.

The researchers believe that this method should work against drug-resistant viruses, and other respected pillars of the virus world: “We believe this work on bacterial viruses is promising, but the real test will be with more serious pathogens like HIV and hepatitis,” said T.C Wu, a laboratory researcher.