14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists and researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, in the US, have managed to create a synthetic immune system-like molecule, able to fight the dreaded human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in monkey test subjects. After being injected with the new chemical, the animals proved able to withstand infection from a specific type of HIV, known as SIV. If the research is applicable to humans, then we could see the development of a vaccine that could prevent the onset of the disease from the get-go in some time. Such a medical tool could prove invaluable in holding off the massive spread of HIV/AIDS around the world, and especially in Africa, Reuters reports.
“Six of nine immunized monkeys were protected against infection by the SIV challenge, and all nine were protected from AIDS,” CHP expert Philip Johnson, who has been the leader of the new research and also the author of a paper detailing the finds, published in a recent issue of the scientific journal Nature Medicine, said. He also underlined the fact that numerous attempts at creating a way of treating or preventing the onset of HIV/AIDS had thus far failed, despite the best efforts of science teams around the world.
For the new research, the experts created an artificial slice of DNA, which was able to produce artificial antibodies to aid the immune systems. These antibodies, also known as antibody-like proteins, or immunoadhesins, work in very much the same way regular ones do, by affixing themselves to the surface of the invading pathogen, and then signaling their location to the killer cells in the bloodstream, which then simply destroy the virus. The problem in HIV is that the virus defends itself against such attacks, and does not allow antibodies to catch it. As a result, the immune system believes nothing is wrong, and takes no defensive action.
The new antibody-producing slice of DNA was carried inside the bodies of monkeys by an adeno-associated virus (AAV), and a single shot prevented six of nine monkeys from becoming infected. According to the researchers, those who did get SIV never developed AIDS, the condition caused by the virus, characterized by a complete and systematic destruction of the immune system.
“As a concept, I think this is very promising. We need to make the genes as humanized as possible so that the human body doesn't react to that. I don't see this going into humans for years,” the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease HIV Vaccine Research Branch, Dr. Peggy Johnston, shared for Reuters. Current statistics show that more than 33 million people around the world are infected with HIV, or suffer from AIDS.