Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 10 Nov 1995
"This is one of the most important discoveries since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic," the center's director, Professor John Mills, told a press conference.
But Mills stressed: "We have not discovered a drug or a cure for HIV infection. We have discovered a process to target for potential drug development.
Optimistically speaking, it will be at least a half a decade before a drug resulting from this discovery will be widely available -- but we will move this forward as fast as we possibly can."
The scientists discovered the defective strain of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after realizing that seven recipients of blood from an HIV-positive male donor had not developed Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS-related symptoms despite being infected for up to 14 years.
The scientists found a cluster of mutations in the "nef" gene that stop it causing disease and leading to AIDS. This difference apparently slows down the replication process of the virus and allows a person's immune system to deal with it.
"The discovery of such strains of virus led to the production of a vaccine for the treatment of other diseases, notably polio," the scientists said. But Mills said it would be at least three to four years before the centre could carry out clinical trials on humans.
The World Health Organization has estimated that there will be 40 million to 100 million people with AIDS worldwide by 2000.
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