Other surrounding cells pick up the presence of interferon. “This starts a chain reaction,” Zoon explained. It can cover an isolated region—say, an organ—or spread through your entire body within just a few hours. Cell after cell begins to pick up the signal and create interferon and other proteins that protect the cell. Once it does so, the interferon, true to its namesake, induces the manufacture of proteins that interfere with the ability of the virus to reproduce itself.
