Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Since 1907
Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Israeli scientists make breakthrough in HIV cure

Last week Israeli scientists announced that they have made a breakthrough on a cure for HIV and AIDS. Professors Abraham Loyter and Assaf Friedler of Hebrew University in Jerusalem have developed a drug they believe will lead to a cure for the virus which has infected millions globally and kills thousands every year. Ongoing tests of the drug at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot have shown optimistic results.

HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that afflicts the infected person with a condition known AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The HIV virus attacks a vital immune system cell known as CD4, which the body uses to fend off illnesses like the flu. HIV not only destroys the CD4 white blood cells but effectively takes over the cells in the process to make more copies of the virus. When the virus has destroyed a certain number of the sufferer’s CD4 cells, doctors will call this progressed state of the virus AIDS.

Since the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s doctors have developed a cocktail of drugs for HIV carriers that helps delay the spread of virus. Since then the ailment has been transformed from a fatal epidemic to a chronic disease. While this development has saved many lives there has been no cure for it until now.

The drug, known as Gammora, has an active ingredient, a peptide, developed by Loyter and Friedler. The drug, helped by this key ingredient, causes multiple copies of the virus to enter an infected CD4 cell, instead of the usual one or two, causing the cell to vigorously overwork and self-destruct.

According to the Times of Israel, Loyter explained, “With our approach we are destroying the cells, so there is no chance that the virus will awaken one day, because there are no cells, there will be no cells that contain the virus.” He further explained that “the drug enhances certain processes in the body during the spreading of the virus and that enhancement kills certain cells.”

The blood of ten AIDS patients being treated at the Kaplan Medical Center was placed into test tubes where the drug was subsequently tested. The blood samples saw a decrease in the HIV virus by as much as 97 percent in just eight days. Further testing of Gammora on HIV cells will continue in the hope that it will eventually be capable of killing 100 percent of infected cells.

The findings of the research by the Israeli scientists were published in the AIDS Research and Therapy journal, but some in the scientific community have expressed their reservations. Patrick Levy, however, is hopeful. The first executive director of the Israel AIDS Task Force, an HIV carrier for 28 years now, admits, “There are always reports about breakthroughs, so I try not to expect too much so as not to be disappointed.” He believes this time may be different. “This time it looks like a very interesting breakthrough. If it has reached the point of a clinical trial on human beings, it’s definitely a dramatic development and real news.”

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