HIV may have affected humans for much longer than is currently believed, according to a scientist who says that the genomes of an isolated West African human population provide important clues about how the disease has evolved. HIV-1 Type M, which accounts for 90 percent of human infections, is thought to have crossed the species […]
The scientists at the Gladstone Institutes who discovered new protein fragments in semen that enhance the ability of HIV to infect new cells say their work could point the way to powerful new microbicides to help curb the global spread of HIV/AIDS. In research carried out four years ago, German researchers discovered that HIV transmission […]
Researchers working under the auspices of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) have reported the isolation of 17 novel antibodies capable of neutralizing a broad spectrum of variants of HIV. Founded in 1996, The IAVI is a global not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ensure the development of safe, effective, accessible, preventive HIV vaccines for […]
An increase in high risk behaviors and a false belief in HIV immunity are just two of the issues that health agencies are facing in the wake of preventative male circumcisions in Africa, according to a new report from the Women’s HIV Prevention Tracking Project (WHiPT). WhiPT highlights women’s perspectives, advocacy priorities and recommendations on […]
Previous research carried out in Africa indicated circumcision to be effective in limiting the spread of HIV, but a new analysis by University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health researchers suggests circumcision would have a very small effect on reducing HIV incidence in the United States. The new study was funded by the CDC […]
Smallpox immunization may confer protection against HIV, say researchers who suggest that the end of smallpox vaccination in the mid-20th century may have caused the rapid contemporary spread of HIV. The new theory, published in BMC Immunology, notes that vaccinia immunization, as given to prevent the spread of smallpox, produces a five-fold reduction in HIV […]
A new study shows that individuals with the HLA B57 gene produce larger numbers of T cells that are cross-reactive, meaning they can attack HIV mutations that arise to escape activated killer T cells. Known as non-progressors, a small number of people exposed to the HIV virus progress very slowly to AIDS and some never […]
Banlec, the lectin found in bananas, is a potent inhibitor of HIV, a discovery that may yield new treatments to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV, say University of Michigan Medical School researchers. Describing their research in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the researchers explain how in laboratory tests, BanLec was as potent as two […]
University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have for the first time shown that human stem cells can be engineered into a genetic vaccine that can target and kill HIV-infected cells – a technique that could potentially be used against a number of other viral diseases. The researchers caution that the work to date, […]
Researchers from the newly-established Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute (VGTI), Florida and the University of Montreal have uncovered a possible method for completely eradicating HIV from the human body. The researchers made use of new information about how HIV persists in the body – even in patients receiving drug treatments – and how the virus […]
