Friday, January 30, 2015

A possible cure for HIV









HIV is a Human Immunodeficiency Virus that affects the immune system. It makes people much more vulnerable to infections and diseases. It is found in the bodily fluids of an infected person such as through blood. The virus can be passed from one person to another though blood to blood and sexual contact. 

A recent article on Science Daily discusses HIV and how it can lie dormant in infected cells for years or even decades. Scientists think unlocking the secrets of this viral reservoir may make it possible to cure and not just treat HIV. A team of researchers led by Zanvil A. Cohn and Ralph M. Steinman at Rockefeller University and their collaborators describe new insights on which cells likely do and do not harbor this latent virus. These researchers think the reservoir of latent virus may be hiding out in a type of CD4 T cell: long-lived memory cells that help the immune system remember particular pathogens. 

 I believe that this research is important and will aid in saving many lives in the future. More than 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection, and almost 1 in 7 are unaware of their infection. Finding a possible cure for HIV will lower these numbers greatly.




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