American scientists have come a step further in the fight against the HIV virus. They have discovered the weak spot of the dangerous virus with a calculation.
Still no cure has been found against the life-threatening HIV virus , which affects your immune system and later leads to AIDS. However, a breakthrough seems to be coming. For example, American scientists may have found a way to stop the mutating of certain parts of the virus †
Other target
For example, the HIV virus contains several groups of amino acids that do not or hardly mutate. The virus however, must maintain these segments at all times in order to survive † So when these amino acids are destroyed, the entire virus is attacked. According to researchers from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, these amino acids should therefore become the main target of the new drug against HIV †
Read also:medication can prevent HIV transmission>
Breakthrough
A possible major breakthrough, as the fight against HIV is now mainly made more difficult by the rapid mutation of the virus † During this new study, the researchers analyzed a variety of HIV proteins and, using a statistical method, they mapped different segments of the virus that are least susceptible to mutations †
This also made it clear how it is possible that in some rare cases patients have the HIV virus suppress their own immune system, without medication. In these cases, targets the immune system also focus on sectors of the HIV virus that mutate the least.
More about the HIV virus>
New drugs
US scientists are soon to start developing new drugs against the HIV virus that attack these parts of the virus. First, this treatment will be tested on monkeys.
The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences †
