Accordint to Dr. Sudhir Paul of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, there is hope that researchers have have found an innovative way to kill the virus by finding this small region of HIV that is unchangeable.
But Dr. Paul thinks he’s cracked a code that will not only surpress the virus but, kill it.
“We’ve discovered the weak spot of HIV,” he said.
Paul and his team of researchers have zeroed in on a section of a key protein in HIV’s structure that does not mutate.
“The virus needs at least one constant region, and that is the essence of calling it the Achilles heel,” said Dr. Sudhir.
That Achilles heel is the doctors’ way in. They take advantage of it with something called an abzyme.
It’s naturally produced by people, like lupus patients, and when it is applied to the HIV virus, it permanently disarms it.
Basically, their idea could be used to control the disease for people who already have it and prevent infection for those at risk.
The theory has held up in lab and animal testing. The next step is human trials.
Meanwhile, every day in Houston, three people are diagnosed with HIV.
The doctors still need funding to launch human trials. In the world of HIV research, that’s often where things fall apart. But so far, this is proving to be successful.
“This is the holy grail of HIV research, to develop a preventative vaccine,” Paul said.
Still, even if everything goes well, it’s at least five years before the research could help people with HIV, but the research is promising for the tens of millions waiting for a cure.
