Researchers at Melbourne University have identified antibodies that fight HIV in a breakthrough that puts them a step closer to developing an effective vaccine. A study of 100 people with HIV found the antibodies were so successful in suppressing the virus that it had to mutate around them. The discovery has raised hope that the antibodies, if introduced to healthy people, could prevent the virus taking hold altogether. The study has been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Senior author Professor Stephen Kent has told the Sydney Morning Herald developing a vaccine is ''the holy grail'' of research into HIV. ''We've been working on this problem for over 10 years and the vaccines we've tried in the past have induced some immune responses, but they have not been very effective,'' he said. ''We think we know why now, we think we were inducing the wrong immune responses. If we can use this knowledge to induce the right immune responses, we hope to really knock this on the head.''
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 7th May 2011 - 2:24pm