Continental promo
||  Health News  ||
 
July 03, 2007

Possible HIV cure discovered

Scientists in Germany have discovered a way to remove HIV from infected cells, the Associated Press reports. The study, published in Science magazine, involves a newly engineered enzyme that attacks the DNA of the virus and cuts it from infected cells.

"A customized enzyme that effectively excises integrated HIV-1 from infected cells in vitro might one day help to eradicate [the] virus from AIDS patients," Alan Engelman of Harvard Medical School affiliate Dana-Farber Cancer Institute wrote in an article accompanying the study, according to the AP.

The study's authors said the enzyme, called Tre, won't be available as a treatment anytime in the near future, but it's a step forward in the fight 40 million infected people face worldwide.

The enzyme's method of finding HIV's DNA might be the key to overcoming what the article calls a substantial obstacle: the virus's ability to go undetected for several months or years because of its occasional dormancy within infected cells. Still, barriers remain before the enzyme can be made publicly available.

"The most important, and likely most difficult, among these is that the enzyme would need efficient and safe means of delivery and would have to be able to function without adverse side effects," wrote the study's lead author, Indrani Sarkar of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden.

Sarkar concluded, "Nevertheless, the results we present offer an early proof of principal for this type of approach, which we speculate might form a useful basis for the development of future HIV therapies." (The Advocate)

 

 

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: arman
    Date posted: 2008-12-19 9:25 AM
    Hometown: vancouver

    Comment:

    i cant believe how much we should be turtured...how many times we saw this kind of news and they disapear like a goast...


  • Name: RICHARD
    Date posted: 2008-10-11 8:33 PM
    Hometown: VENEZUELA

    Comment:

    I am willing to commit suicide very soon because I am not going to accept this f..... virus to kill me, i prefer 100 times to take it out of my body and be happy again when I see my blood on the street and the virus dying,I will celebrate it in Heaven or Hell. I am very sorry because I never thought I was going to kill myself but I prefer to die than to live with this enemy that I hate with all my mind. Please to all the doctors that are working on this, remeber about all the inocent and good people that are killing themselves because of this,please hurry up and if cure is never possible then try to advertise people on the television,radio,newspapers all over the world for the people to be more cautious.Remember that this can be also for you or for your sons and daughters.Raise the hand those who don`t have sex????? Raise YOUR HANDS!!!!!! Everybody has sex in this world.


  • Name: veronique
    Date posted: 2008-08-06 4:36 AM
    Hometown: haiti

    Comment:

    i cant't wait to see a hiv cure. this disease has destroyed my life. do you think there will be any resukts soon? and when was this posted?


Back to top

Submit a comment for this story:

*Type your comment here (Required, 1000 characters max. HTML formatting and hyperlinks are NOT permitted.):

*Name (Required): 

*Hometown (Required): 

*E-mail address: (Required, but will not be displayed)

Is this comment for publication? 
Yes   No

Daytime phone number: (Required for print publication only and will not be displayed)

Please enter the words you see in the box, in order and separated by a space. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this service.

  

If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above. 

All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.

See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.

Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.

More Exclusives
  • View From the Hill: The End of DADT?
    Defense Secretary Robert Gates revealed that lawyers are exploring ways to ease enforcement of the military's gay ban, but cautioned that the law doesn't leave much wiggle room. He need look no further than DOD history for a lesson in altering the policy.
  • Hot Sheet: Week of July 5
    When you get back from that big 4th of July barbecue, unwind with Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno and your favorite B-movie-mocking, basic cable robots.
  • Hungry Like the Wolf
    A master of viola, ukulele, piano, and harp, Patrick Wolf is a music prodigy -- one who, the night before this interview, spit on a cop and got himself arrested.
  • Soapside: Advocate's Guide to Daytime
    Forbes March talks about playing gay, Otalia fans outraged, update on One Life to Live’s Patricia Maurceri’s firing over gay plot point, Phillip Chancellor III big reveal, and Erica Kane goes to Africa.
  • The Faces of Federal Prop. 8
    With the federal challenge to Prop. 8 moving full speed ahead, Advocate.com sits down with the two couples named as plaintiffs in the suit.
  • Mommy, the Gays Are Coming
    After a year of advancements and celebration for gay and lesbian Colombians, the community takes to the streets of Bogota for the country's biggest pride ever.
  • The Pride of Antwerp
    Advocate.com hits the gay-friendly streets of Antwerp with openly gay police commissioner Serge Muyters.
  • Excerpt: Mean Little Deaf Queer
    In an excerpt from her humorous and harrowing new memoir, Mean Little Deaf Queer, Terry Galloway recalls her early childhood, describing feelings of ugliness, confusion about gender, and being one of the boys.
  • Top Political Blogs
    From Joe.My.God to The Daily Beast, Advocate.com spotlights a few of the best blogs that cover politics, inside and way outside the Beltway.
  • The Diva of French Television
    A hot young screenwriter who has made gay OK for millions of French viewers, Nicolas Mercier sips champagne, dons a feathered hat, and says he wants to see Colin Farrell and Jude Law go at it.