http://icberkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/nationalnews/content_objectid= 13115397_method=full_siteid=50102_headline=---x91-Breakthrough--x92--in-bi d-for-Aids-vaccine-name_page.html
‘Breakthrough’ in bid for Aids vaccine Jun 27 2003 Scientists have made a vital breakthrough in the search for an Aids vaccine, according to new research. Experts from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), based in California, in the United States, have solved the structure of an antibody which neutralises the HIV virus. The findings, reported in the latest issue of respected journal Science, will boost the search to find a vaccine for HIV/Aids, which killed more than four million people in 2001. TSRI Professor Ian Wilson, one of two professors who led the research said: "Nothing like this has ever been seen before." HIV causes Aids by binding to, entering and ultimately, killing T helper cells - immune cells that are necessary to fight off infections. The World Health Organisation estimates that about 40 million people are living with HIV worldwide. An important part of any potential vaccine will be a component that elicits or induces effective neutralising antibodies against HIV in the blood of the vaccinated person. Also called immunoglobins, antibodies are the basis for many existing vaccines, including those against measles, polio, hepatitis B, and hepatitis A. 'Good' antibodies bind to and neutralise the virus, making it unable to invade cells. Because neutralising antibodies attack the virus before it enters cells, they could conceivably be used to prevent HIV infection if they were present prior to virus exposure. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
