HIV Vaccine Pressures the Virus at Genetic Level

A vaccine developed some time ago to prevent HIV infections turns out to have beneficial effects on patients who already got infected as well. This is the first compound found to put a strain on the virus at a genetic level.

Details of the new study appear in the September 10 online issue of the top scientific journal Nature, Science Blog reports.

The work was led by US Military HIV Research Program scientist Morgane Roland, PhD, who was also the lead author of the paper. She says that two sites on the virus' Env-V2 region could constitute a target for future therapies.

“This study underscores the realistic optimism you see in the HIV vaccine research field today. We are making substantive progress in understanding what it will take to develop a more effective HIV vaccine which will ultimately help us end this pandemic,” says MHRP director, Col. Nelson Michael.