An AIDS Vaccine May Be On The Way Thanks To This Discovery
A major step forward.
There are approximately 37 million people in the world living with HIV, and it's a virus that can impact anyone. While a cure is still a long way off, a new discovery made by the National Institutes of Health may be able to bring a vaccine to market sooner than previously expected.
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have announced a major breakthrough in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
HIV infects people by attaching itself to healthy T-Cells, as seen in the photo above. The new discovery focuses on a vulnerable site on HIV that a vaccine could target.
The breakthrough involves an antibody that stops HIV from binding to healthy cells.
Using that antibody, the virus would be unable to bind to healthy cells, and thus be unable to infect them. The string of eight amino acids that helps the virus bind with a cell is called a fusion peptide, and has a simpler structure than other sites on the virus that have been studied in the past.
Researchers discovered this antibody that prevents binding by studying the blood of an HIV-positive patient who produced those antibodies naturally.
While a promising discovery, it's important to recognize that an actual vaccine would still be years away.
While the discovery could lead to the first vaccine for HIV/AIDS, preventative measures already exist against the disease.
Truvada, originally marketed as a retroviral to treat HIV+ people, is now used as PrEP, or Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, a once-daily pill to prevent the spread of HIV.