Stem cells aid in closing a gateway to the AIDS virus
July 5th, 2010 - 7:24 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattParis, July 5 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Scientists recently revealed that lab experiments on mice have led to an extraordinary discovery of how to close a door to the virus that causes AIDS.
The virus - Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) hijacks the host cell and tricks the cell to reproduce the virus several times. The virus is responsible for the development of AIDS. It suppresses the immune system of its host thereby making the person prone to infections and diseases. Currently, scientists are still trying hard to find a cure for the disease, but years of research and funding have led to better ways of managing the disease.
Scientists call the doorway that the virus used to enter the cell as CCR5. The CCR5 is a protein strain and the virus used it to enter into the cell of its hosts.
However the new strain of the protein called CCR5 delta 32 produces less CCR5 protein, thereby preventing most strains of the virus from entering the host cell. Scientists believe this is a major breakthrough in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
HIV and AIDS accounted for the death of around two million people worldwide in 2008 and currently about 33.4 million people are still living with the virus, and most of them are in the third world developing nations.
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