Scientists succeed in destroying HIV-infected cells

People wear red ribbons to raise public awareness of HIV and AIDS (Photo: Instagram)

Scientists have announced a potential major breakthrough in finding new treatments for HIV.

French researchers have revealed that they have successfully destroyed cells infected with HIV.

Scientists at the Institut Pasteur in Paris used inhibitors of metabolic activity to eliminate "reservoir" cells.

Scientists succeed in destroying HIV-infected cells

Antiretroviral drugs fail to completely eliminate the virus.

Even when HIV is reduced to undetectable levels, a small amount of the virus is latent in some cells.

The virus can also multiply if people stop taking their medication.

The virus remains in the reservoirs, the immune cells of CD4 lymphocytes, which are the main targets of HIV.

The elimination of these hidden virus reservoirs has become a key target for scientists wishing to find a cure for HIV.

Theoretically, this French technique could possibly completely eradicate HIV from the body.

Could this new technique help rid the body of HIV?

A spokesperson for the Pasteur Institute said, "The antiretroviral therapy used today is designed to block HIV infection, but it is not able to prevent it. eliminate the virus from the body.

"The virus stays in the reservoirs – the immune cells of CD4 T cells, the main targets of HIV."

HIV targets cells with high metabolic activity and "diverts" their energy to multiply.

The spokesman also added, "Thanks to the inhibitors of metabolic activity, the researchers were able to destroy these infected cells, or" reservoirs, "ex vivo."

The next step in the research will be to evaluate the potential for using this technique on living organisms.

Trump halts study on HIV "treatment"

The Trump administration quietly stopped a study on a "cure" for HIV in September.

The study implanted human fetal tissue in mice in an effort to find an effective new treatment for HIV.

Human fetal tissue came from voluntary abortions. Although legal, anti-abortion groups oppose research.

However, at the end of September, a researcher from the RML sent an email to the bioscience entrepreneur who obtained the fetal tissue, indicating that it could not continue.

In his email to Advanced Bioscience Resources in California, the researcher said:[[[[Department of Health and Social Services]I ordered to stop getting fetal tissue from ABR, our only source. I think they are the only supplier of fetal tissue for scientists in the country who do not have direct access to aborted fetal tissue. This effectively stops all our research to find a cure for HIV. "