Scientists find technology used in Covid vaccine to cure HIV
In a major scientific breakthrough, researchers in Australia may have found a new way to bring the world one step closer to curing HIV.Scientists at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne have developed a method to "wake up" hidden HIV viruses inside the human body, potentially allowing them to be removed completely.The ability for the HIV virus to conceal itself inside some white blood cells has been one of the main challenges for scientists looking for a cure. This also makes it nearly impossible for the immune system or even strong medicines to detect and destroy it fully.advertisement
But now, in their quest to find the best treatment, they have found a way to get the virus out of the their hiding.This hidden form of HIV is known as a "reservoir." While today's medicines can control the virus, they cannot remove it. People with HIV still need lifelong treatment to stay healthy and prevent spreading the virus.But researchers have now used mRNA technology, the same kind used in Pfizer and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines, to deliver special instructions to these hidden cells.These instructions make the virus come out of hiding, so it can potentially be eliminated from the body.The problem before was that the white blood cells hiding HIV didn't accept the fat bubbles, or lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), that carry the mRNA.But the Melbourne team designed a new version of these fat bubbles called LNP X, which successfully entered the tricky white blood cells and delivered the mRNA.advertisementDr. Paula Cevaal, one of the lead researchers, said the early results were so surprising that the team repeated the experiments many times to confirm what they were seeing. "We were overwhelmed by how big the difference was," she told The Guardian.The research, published in Nature Communications, is still in the early stages and was done using cells donated by HIV patients in the lab.Next steps would involve testing the method in animals, followed by human trials to check if the treatment is safe and truly effective.The team believes this could be a major moment in the fight against HIV, and possibly even helpful in treating other diseases like certain cancers.Trending Reel
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