Researchers in California believe they have hit the jackpot in modern medical breakthroughs. The cure for AIDS.

The researchers have published a study in the journal Science,demonstrating two powerful new antibodies which could hold the key to achieving a viable AIDS vaccine. It has been well known for several years that a very small percentage of people are immune to the HIV virus, but it was never discovered quite how. Now, researchers were able to isolate the antibodies that neutralize a high percentage of the virus’s different forms currently in circulation worldwide.

Now that these antibodies have been discovered, it is only a matter of finding out if people at large can produce these antibodies themselves after exposure to the vaccine. The antibodies, described as “broadly neutralizing,” have isolated a new target on the HIV virus that has not been utilized by other vaccine attempts. Just four other broadly neutralizing antibodies have been found to date, and they functioned by binding to places on the virus that have proven difficult to exploit.

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Scientists out of the University of Utah have created a new substance, heralded as a molecular condom, which blocks HIV from entering the vaginal tissue. HIV infection is a huge problem in Africa, and other impoverished areas, mostly because of a taboo or unavailability of condoms. The gel is meant to give woman a way to protect themselves from infection without any approval of their partner.

“This is important – particularly in resource-poor areas of the world like sub-Sahara Africa and south Asia where, in some age groups, as many as 60 percent of women already are infected with HIV. In these places, women often are not empowered to force their partners to wear a condom.” – Patrick Kiser, an associate professor of bioengineering at the University of Utah

The gel is inserted vaginally, and when it comes into contact with semen it hardens, creating a mesh around the semen and the human immunodeficiency virus. Kiser says the gel should block other viruses and sperm, thus could work as a contraceptive and possibly prevent infection by herpes viruses and human papillomavirus (HPV), a major cause of cervical cancer.

To be more effective against HIV, anti-HIV drugs can be added to the gel, giving the gel a double barrier against HIV infection. The gel also works by blocking movement of immune system cells that try to combat infectious agents but instead get hijacked by the AIDS virus.

The gel is just in the testing phase right now. The gel will be tested thoroughly before it is put out on the market. The researchers are currently working on testing the HIV-prevention ability of other polymers, testing the safety of the new gel on vaginal cells, and studying how well the new gel blocks the transport of HIV into samples of human vaginal and penile tissue from hysterectomies and circumcisions. If proven effective, this gel will be able to go a long way in the war against AIDS.

Source: Science Daily

Image Credit: Daniel Hohler