A new weapon against HIV? According to Sunspot.net, reasearchers at MIT have come up with a new approach to combatting the AIDS virus:
WASHINGTON - A form of RNA developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology silences genes that play a role in HIV infection, potentially showing a new way to combat the virus that causes AIDS.
The team used short forms of RNA - ribonucleic acid - that turn off genes vital for the production of proteins used by the virus to enter and infect cells. RNA carries the blueprint for constructing proteins.
"If many obstacles can be surmounted this could be a basis for intervention in HIV treatment," said Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, who led the research.
Obviously, this is a long way off, but I think this approach may be the most productive yet. Treatment once the infection has taken hold are subject to increased resistance over time, and the protease inhibitors begin to lose effectiveness. It seems that the best approach would be to prevent the virus from getting a foothold in the first place. Unfortunately, crafting a vaccine for the virus is extremely difficult, given the rapid mutation of HIV, as well as the multiple subtypes of the virus. There is one vaccine (AidsVax) in stage III trials right now, but it will be another 6 months or so before we have enough data to evaluate it's effectiveness. The next vaccine in line (Remune) is hampered by dismal phase II trials, and the fact that the company is about to go broke.
Posted by Rich at June 3, 2002 9:35 PM