Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1986. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - July 31, 1986
It remains to be seen whether the new virus is actually harmless to people, but its creation is one important step among many that are currently being tried in the effort to treat acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
"Essentially, what we've done is by altering the genome, or viral genetic information, we created a virus which is derived from the parent AIDS virus and resembles the parent virus in many respects but lacks the killing effect" in a test tube or laboratory dish, said Dr. Flossie Wong-Stahl, a researcher at the institute.
"It doesn't have the property which is the major factor of the AIDS virus, which is killing of T-4 cells," Dr. Wong-Stahl added. "We think that it would be potentially useful, both in terms of vaccine and also in terms of therapy."
T-4 cells are white blood cells of the body's immune system. In AIDS victims, the body's supply of the cells is killed off, leaving victims open to cancer and a variety of fatal infections.
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