{"id":639912,"date":"2013-01-24T16:51:07","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T21:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.webpronews.com\/?p=213127"},"modified":"2013-01-24T16:51:07","modified_gmt":"2013-01-24T21:51:07","slug":"potential-aids-cure-could-make-hiv-dormant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/639912","title":{"rendered":"Potential AIDS Cure Could Make HIV Dormant"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new study<\/a> published this month in the journal Human Gene Therapy<\/em> has shown that a modified protein from the HIV<\/a> virus itself could someday be used to prevent AIDS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is like fighting fire with fire,\u201d said David Harrich, co-author of the study and an associate professor at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research’s (QIMR) Molecular Virology Laboratory. \u201cIf this research continues down its strong path, and bear in mind there are a many hurdles to clear, we\u2019re looking at a cure for AIDS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harrich runs the only research laboratory in Queensland that works with the HIV virus. The protein he and his colleagues discovered, named “Nullbasic,” was formed by mutating an existing HIV protein over many generations. The researchers are confident enough in their findings that animal trials are set to begin this year.<\/p>\n

Patients infected with the HIV virus currently take large doses of expensive drugs to subdue the virus. “Nullbasic” treatments wouldn’t eliminate HIV from patients’ bodies but, according to Harrich, it could significantly reduce the cost of treatment for HIV.<\/p>\n

“I have never seen anything like it. The modified protein works every time,\u201d said Harrich. \u201cYou would still be infected with HIV, it\u2019s not a cure for the virus. But the virus would stay latent, it wouldn\u2019t wake up, so it wouldn\u2019t develop into AIDS. With a treatment like this, you would maintain a healthy immune system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harrich has been studying HIV since the early 1980s, when the very first cases of AIDS began to be diagnosed. He began as a research assistant at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve come close to giving up in the past,” said Harrich. “But today I\u2019m so encouraged. I feel very fortunate because not a lot of scientists are able to stay in the same game long enough to see these sorts of developments.<\/p>\n

The video below was released by QIMR. It features Harrich discussing his team’s “Nullbasic” findings.<\/p>\n