Skip to main content

A New Vaccine That Can Block HIV

Researchers at various reserach institutes has been working and successful in finding out a dru that can work against HIV virus and immune against it. The drug has worked against doses of HIV that were higher than  transmitted between humans, and works for at least eight months after injection.
A new drug led by the team of researchers at  Scripps Research Institute in the US, is found to be effective against doses of HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus) that have been extracted from humans - including what researchers consider to be the ‘hardest-to-stop’ variants.
"Our compound is the broadest and most potent entry inhibitor described so far,” lead researcher Michael Farzan from the Scripps Institute said in a press release. "Unlike antibodies, which fail to neutralise a large fraction of HIV-1 strains, our protein has been effective against all strains tested, raising the possibility it could offer an effective HIV vaccine alternative.”
HIV infects a person by infecting his T lymphocyte, a type of white blood cells and injecting his own genetic material into to tranform it to HIV producing machine, thus making our immune acts against us.
The team has discovered  that a particular type of protein found on the surface of white blood cells can actually bind to the surface of the HIV virus in two different places simultaneously, which means that not only does the virus no longer have a chance to change the position of its receptors to escape, it’s also being blocked from entering the T lymphocyte cells.
"When antibodies try to mimic the receptor, they touch a lot of other parts of the viral envelope that HIV can change with ease," said one of the team, Matthew Gardner, from the Scripps Institute. "We've developed a direct mimic of the receptors without providing many avenues that the virus can use to escape, so we catch every virus thus far.”

"We are closer than any other approach to universal protection, but we still have hurdles, primarily with safety for giving it to many, many people,” Franzen told the BBC. One such concern is that no one really knows what the long-term implications would be for a person who is having an anti-HIV response being pumped around their body non-stop. The team will be looking into this when they get their human trials underway.
source: Sciencealert

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Top 3 Fastest Hydrogen Powered Car

When it comes to racing using hydrogen powered car, this top three car will win the show. Hydrogen powered car uses hydrogen gas as a fuel which combust with oxygen to form water. #3. Aston Martin Rapide :  British luxury marque ASTON MARTIN  introduced AM Rapide S in early 2010.  The Rapide is powered by a 5,935 cc V12 engine , producing 470 bhp and torque of 443 lbf·ft (601 N·m). It is Rear-wheel drive  and has a six- speed Touchtronic automatic. The Rapide can reach a top speed of 188.5 mph (303 km/h),  and accelerate 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.3 seconds, or 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 5.0 seconds. #2. BMW H2R : This car built by BMW uses liquid hydrogen as a fuel. The H2R’s 6.0-liter V-12 engine, which draws on BMW 's Valvetronic  and Double-Vanos  technology, is based on the 760i’s gasoline-fueled powerplant. This H2-powered high performer generates 232 horsepower (173 kW), helping it t...

Renewable energy smashes global records in 2015

Last year saw record worldwide investment and implementation of clean energy such as wind, solar and hydropower. Some 147 Gigawatts of renewable electricity came online in 2015 - the largest annual increase ever and as much as Africa’s entire power generating capacity. Clean energy investment increased to $286bn (£198bn), with solar energy accounting for 56% of the total and wind power for 38%. Overall, more than twice as much money was spent on renewables than on coal and gas-fired power generation ($130bn in 2015), the REN21 global status reportfound. Christine Lins, REN21’s chief, said: “What is truly remarkable about these results is that they were achieved at a time when fossil fuel prices were at historic lows, and renewables remained at a significant disadvantage in terms of government subsidies. For every dollar spent boosting renewables, nearly four dollars were spent to maintain our dependence on fossil fuels.” For the first time, emerging economies outs...

Telescopic Contact Lens For Visually Impaired People

See far distance just by winking your eyes. A team of engineers have designed a telescopic contact lens that can switch between normal and magnefied vision.  The Researchers at  San Jose, California has built a prototype pf lens that could one day help people with visual impairment  to see. The lenses might be particularly useful with age-related macular degeneration, a debilitating condition in which people gradually lose their central vision. It is the leading cause of visual impairment and affect millions worldwide. The contact lens developed by Ford’s team is one millimeter thick. Researchers used aluminum mirrors, fit tightly together, to create a ring-shaped telescope embedded in the contact lens. The center of the lens allows for normal, non-magnified vision.  Its periphery, where the telescope is located, magnifies images 2.8 times. Switching between normal and magnefied vision Without the glasses, the contact lenses superimpose both normal and magn...