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Not only did they find a molecule that binds to the HIV virus like an antibody, they manipulated another virus to produce that molecule. Very impressive. "Farz
by jobu 12y ago
Not only did they find a molecule that binds to the HIV virus like an antibody, they manipulated another virus to produce that molecule. Very impressive.
"Farzan’s team stitched the gene for eCD4-Ig into an adeno-associated virus (AAV) that is harmless to humans. Those viruses, injected into monkey muscles, continued to produce eCD4-Ig for the 40 weeks of the experiment. “Everyone expects with AAV that this can go on forever,” Farzan says."
- toufka 12y agoCuriously enough, oftentimes the delivery mechanism for many of these genetic tools is the HIV scaffolding itself. It's very good at what it does - and delivering genetic payloads is one of them. Strip it entirely of its ability to be infectious and you have a very functional delivery mechanism.