Jan 18, 2013 | Weekly Articles
A Queensland Institute of Medical Research scientist has developed a novel way to use HIV to beat HIV in the laboratory. Associate Professor David Harrich, from QIMR’s Molecular Virology Laboratory, has paved a way to a new field of research in Virology. He developed a way to mutate and modify a protein in the virus, which stopped the replication of the virus. He invented the “Nullbasic” protein by mutating an existing HIV protein,Tat. Animal trials are due to start this year.
This means that a person would be infected with HIV but it wouldn’t develop into AIDS. The virus would be latent forever. With a treatment like this, you would maintain a healthy immune system. HIV patients currently take a regime of drugs for the rest of their lives. The successful development of this type of treatment would also have economic implications.