Is Bill Gates correct in saying that HIV will be a thing of the past by 2030? Well, it looks like it now that a team of researchers has discovered a very protein that attacks and kills virtually all kinds of HIV strains.
Researchers from the Scripps Research Institute in Florida have learned about a protein that could be the basis of an HIV vaccine. According to the team's lead, Michael Farzan, the one they discovered is so powerful that it can block the growth and spread of HIV-1 and 2 strains, as well as SIV. It also has the ability to even manage the variants of these strains, which are more difficult to find and treat.
This discovery is extremely significant for a variety of reasons. Thousands of people all around the world are currently infected with the virus, and until now, there's no known cure. The available treatments are merely to delay the progress of the disease into AIDS.
Moreover, most of the proteins that have been tested against HIV prove to be less effective with most types of strains. It doesn't help that new strains are being discovered. A few days ago, scientists revealed that there's a new HIV variant in Cuba that is so aggressive HIV can progress to AIDS in as short as 3 years especially without treatment. Usually, HIV develops into AIDS around 6 to 10 years without treatment.
Not only can the protein eliminate the strains, it can also prevent the virus from inserting itself into the body's genetic code even if the transmitted virus is similar times higher than what's normally transmitted to humans. The protection can be as long as 8 months after a person is injected.
The research took about a decade before they reached a breakthrough. They intensively analysed the chemistry of cells, especially infected ones, and learned that a certain co-receptor called CCR5 can actually prevent infection if one of its related proteins is manipulated.