Scientists Find 2 New HIV Antibodies

[leatherbear]

Sept. 3) – Researchers said Friday they have isolated two antibodies that block HIV from multiplying in the body and causing severe disease -- an exciting development that could lead to the creation of a vaccine against AIDS. The two antibodies appear to be 10 times more effective than others in defusing HIV, the scientists from Scripps Research Institute and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative reported in the journal Science.

Other so-called broadly neutralizing antibodies, immune system cells that stave off infection, have been isolated from HIV-positive patients in the past. But the newly discovered antibodies are not only much more effective, they work against scores of different strains of the virus found in various continents around the world.
"We looked at 162 different [HIV] viruses, and these antibodies neutralized 120 to 130 of strains from all across the world," Dennis Burton of Scripps, the lead author of the study, told Time magazine. The researchers collected blood samples from more than 1,800 people in Thailand, Australia and Africa who had been infected with HIV for at least three years without the infection progressing to full-blown AIDS. These individuals are most likely to produce antibodies that interfere with the replication of the virus. The researchers eventually isolated two antibodies, called PG9 and PG16, from one African patient. The antibodies could potentially be used to treat HIV-positive patients who develop severe disease. But more than that, researchers hope to find molecules that can stimulate the body to produce these antibodies. These molecules could be the main building block for a vaccine that would protect against HIV.

[jagged]

:cheers:

any new developments are great news
i just hope n pray that whenever anything is developed
it gets distrubuted where it's needed most
and at a price that's affordable for them
sometimes humanitarian sentimentality and compassion needs to come before extortionate profit making

here's an article i came across a while back

Houston doctors say they may have found a way to destroy HIV

hxxp://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080729_tnt_hivbreakthrough.149656b8.html

we're geting there  :cheers:

[barrowman]

Any progression is good news. I hope that we can defeat AIDS this common foe near future.

Edited to fix your smiley