Washington: Scientists have tracked the earliest days of a man's robust immune response to HIV which may lead to a potential new vaccine for the deadly virus. The research team, led by Barton F Haynes from Duke Human Vaccine Institute and John Mascola of the NIH Vaccine Research Center, has for the first time described the co-evolution of antibodies and virus in a person with HIV whose immune system mounted a broad attack against the pathogen.
Most vaccines work by inducing this antibody response, but the HIV virus has proved to be a difficult vaccine target, according to the findings published in the journal Nature. When HIV antibodies are produced, they typically have a limited range, and the virus changes rapidly to escape harm, leading to an arms race that the virus usually wins. The current research was aided by new technologies that can detect early infection and track the subsequent immune response and virus evolution, 'Medicalxpress' reported.
It fills gaps in knowledge that have impeded development of an effective vaccine for a virus that has killed more than 30 million people worldwide. "For the first time, we have mapped not only the evolutionary pathway of the antibody, but also the evolutionary pathway of the virus, defining the sequence of events involved that induce the broadly neutralising antibodies," said Haynes. The key to this finding was a person in Africa whose HIV infection was detected so early that the virus had not yet mutated to avoid the immune
04:51 PM, Apr 04, 2013
Twenty five years ago when Dr Satyajit Mayor shifted from engineering to chemistry while studying at IIT-Mumbai, he was the butt of jokes for moving to a non-lucrative course. But today Dr Mayor has shown he made the right choice. His research could now help find cure to fatal diseases like cancer and AIDS. ...
10:00 AM, Jan 03, 2013
In a big breakthrough in HIV research, the US Food and Drugs Authority on Tuesday gave the nod for a pill that prevents HIV. ...
09:37 AM, Jul 17, 2012
This comes even as it's been two decades since the government launched its battle against the discrimination against HIV positive people. ...
09:49 PM, Jun 05, 2012
Pune: It's been two decades since the government launched its battle against discrimination of HIV positive people with an iconic advertisement, crores of rupees have been spent to counter persecution of the HIV infected. But the campaign ironically has failed to eliminate prejudice even within the government departments. A 41-year-old bus driver from Pune, an HIV positive, was sacked by the State Transport Department last month. The sole breadwinner in...
06:21 AM, Jun 05, 2012
Kolkata: Tarit Chakrobarty, secretary of Bengal Network of People Living with HIV AIDS, is a young crusader in West Bengal is spreading awareness across the state. An AIDS victim himself, Tarit is a fighters teaching others like himself how to fight pain, stigma and alienation they meet as they are victims of this deadly disease. Bengal Network of People Living with HIV AIDS is an organisation comprising of men and...
08:54 AM, Dec 01, 2011
New Delhi: Civil Society groups working with HIV/AIDS patients have been demanding that the HIV Bill should be taken up in the winter session of Parliament. The bill has been waiting approval by the Union Health Ministry for more than 5 years now. Even as politics held the first day of the winter session hostage, not far from Parliament, on Monday, protestors gathered over a long-pending bill to deal with...
10:02 AM, Nov 23, 2011
Thiruvananthapuram: Social causes top filmmaker Priyadarshan's priority list and his next three movie projects -- 'Kanchivaram' part two, a movie on HIV-AIDS and a film about girl child -- will highlight serious issues. One of the most successful directors down south, Priyadarshan has also made many commercial Hindi entertainers, but now he has turned his attention to meaningful movies. In a chat with IANS, while on a trip to his...
11:59 AM, Sep 22, 2011
New York: New York man has contracted the AIDS virus in the nation's first case of transmission from a living organ donor since a screening test was implemented to prevent such infection, the New York State Department of Health said on Thursday. The recipient of a live kidney transplant in a New York City hospital tested positive for the HIV virus, department spokeswoman Claudia Hutton said. While screening was properly...
10:25 AM, Mar 18, 2011
The big health story of 2009 was swine flu. ...
11:09 PM, Dec 29, 2009
Sixteen top writers from India pitched in to highlight the problem. ...
02:00 AM, Dec 02, 2008
In Bihar, the state government has a new concern: the increasing number of HIV cases in the police force. ...
07:42 AM, Oct 24, 2006
