Latest news with #biomedicine
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Major HIV breakthrough forces hidden fragments of the virus to emerge so it can be cleared from the body
Experts could have found a way to be one step closer to curing HIV for good. Researchers in Australia has developed a new treatment that forces hidden fragments of the virus - normally concealed within human cells - to emerge and expose themselves to the immune system. The breakthrough could enable the body, aided by antiviral drugs, to detect and destroy any lingering viral reservoirs. HIV has remained incurable because the virus can integrate itself into a cell's DNA, laying dormant and undetectable to both medication and immune defenses. Scientists said they've created a nanoparticle capable of delivering genetic instructions to infected cells, prompting them to produce a signal that reveals the virus's presence. Dr Paula Cevaal of the Doherty Institute and co-author of the study told The Guardian that the feat was 'previously thought impossible'. Cevaal said: 'In the field of biomedicine, many things eventually don't make it into the clinic, that is the unfortunate truth; I don't want to paint a prettier picture than what is the reality. 'But in terms of specifically the field of HIV cure, we have never seen anything close to as good as what we are seeing, in terms of how well we are able to reveal this virus. 'So, from that point of view, we're very hopeful that we are also able to see this type of response in an animal, and that we could eventually do this in humans.' The discovery was first revealed in the journal Nature Communications, where researchers said they were initially so astonished that they had to rerun the tests. Further research would be needed to determine whether revealing the virus would be enough to trigger an immune response, with tests only being carried out in the lab. It could still take years before clinical trials for the drug began, when it would have to go through rigorous testing before reaching consumers. However, the advance represents another step forward for the 1.2 million Americans currently living with an HIV infection - for which they took drugs daily. An estimated 31,800 people were believed to be infected every year, although that's a 12 per cent decline on five years ago. Globally, nearly 40 million people have the virus. The new nanoparticle's based on mRNA technology, the same as was used in covid vaccines made by Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers. In their paper, the scientists revealed that they could deliver mRNA instructions to cells using the nanoparticle. The mRNA then instruct cells to generate substances that reveal the presence of HIV, but only if the virus was present. The study done in the laboratory was carried out in cells donated by HIV patients.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Doctors make breakthrough in HIV cure search: 'We've never seen anything close to as good'
Experts may have moved one step closer to curing HIV for good. Researchers in Australia have developed a new treatment that forces hidden fragments of the virus — normally concealed within human cells — to emerge and expose themselves to the immune system. The breakthrough could enable the body, aided by antiviral drugs, to detect and destroy these lingering viral reservoirs. HIV has remained incurable because the virus can integrate itself into a cell's DNA, lying dormant and undetectable to both medication and immune defenses. But the scientists say they have created a nanoparticle capable of delivering genetic instructions to infected cells, prompting them to produce a signal that reveals the virus's presence. Dr Paula Cevaal, research fellow at the Doherty Institute and co-author of the study, told the Guardian that this feat was 'previously thought impossible'. 'In the field of biomedicine, many things eventually don't make it into the clinic,' she said, 'that is the unfortunate truth; I don't want to paint a prettier picture than what is the reality'. 'But in terms of specifically the field of HIV cure, we have never seen anything close to as good as what we are seeing, in terms of how well we are able to reveal this virus. 'So, from that point of view, we're very hopeful that we are also able to see this type of response in an animal, and that we could eventually do this in humans.' The discovery was first revealed in the journal Nature Communications, with researchers saying they were initially so astonished that they had to re-run the tests. Further research will be needed to determine whether revealing the virus is enough to trigger an immune response, with the tests only being carried out in the lab. And it could still take years before clinical trials for the drug begin, when it would have to go through rigorous testing before reaching consumers. But the advance represents another step forward for the 1.2million Americans currently living with an HIV infection — for which they must take drugs daily. An estimated 31,800 people are infected every year, although this is a 12 percent decline on five years ago. Globally, nearly 40million people have the virus. The nanoparticle is based on mRNA technology, the same that was used in the Covid vaccines made by Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers. In their paper, the scientists revealed that they could deliver mRNA instructions to cells using the nanoparticle. This mRNA then instructs cells to generate substances that reveal the presence of HIV, but only if the virus is present. The study was done in the lab, and carried out in cells donated by HIV patients. It comes after the Trump administration was reported to have cut funding for research into a potential HIV vaccine. The termination of the $258million research program stunned scientists at Duke University and Scripps Research Institute behind the project. HIV disproportionately affects gay and bisexual individuals in the US, who account for an estimated 67 percent of new infections — according to 2022 data. People who acquire HIV through heterosexual sex made up 22 percent of new diagnoses, or 8,495 cases, while those who were diagnosed after injecting drugs made up seven percent of new diagnoses, or 2,650 cases.
South China Morning Post
18-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Who is Fan Daidi? New vice-president of top China university has net worth of US$6 billion
The newly-appointed vice-president of a top university in China has trended on social media after she was revealed to be the richest person in the country's northwestern Shaanxi province. Fan Daidi possibly also has the highest net worth of all university executives in the country. In April, Fan, 59, was named the vice-president of Northwest University in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, she was placed in charge of international cooperation. But she has attracted more attention because of her other roles. Fan and her husband Yan Jianya are founders of the Hong Kong-listed biological medicine enterprise Giant Biogene. They also hold a significant share in the Shenzhen-listed aviation material company Triangle Defense.
