Researchers investigated the rare flavonoid, patuletin, for its potential to prevent COVID-19. They used a computational approach to study its structural similarity to nine SARS-CoV-2 proteins and found that patuletin was similar to a ligand of the virus's RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Further studies confirmed that patuletin could bind correctly to the active pocket of the polymerase. The compound was also found to be safe and similar to other drugs. These findings suggest that patuletin may have therapeutic potential for COVID-19.