Newly Discovered Antibody Defeats 91 Percent of HIV Strains

Friday, July 9, 2010 - 10:07 in Health & Medicine

HIV Budding CDC American researchers are working on three antibodies that may mark a new step on the path toward an HIV vaccine, according to a report published online Thursday in the journal Science. One of the antibodies suppresses 91 percent of HIV strains, more than any AIDS antibody ever discovered, according to a report on the findings published in the Wall Street Journal. The antibodies were discovered in the cells of a 60-year-old African-American gay man whose body produced them naturally. One antibody in particular is substantially different from its precursors, the Science study says. The antibodies could be tried as a treatment for people already infected with HIV, the WSJ reports. At the very least, they might boost the efficacy of current antiretroviral drugs. A vaccine for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, would likely work by activating the body's own ability to produce antibodies that would ward...

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