Just last month, scientists have announced that there is now a potential cure for nearly all HIV strains. Formally called by the name of N6, this broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) is said to have the ability to kill or neutralize up to ninety-eight percent of HIV strains during their pre-clinical lab tests, scientists further confirmed.
Scientists Discover a Potential Cure for nearly all HIV Strains
HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus is the main cause for AIDS which, as we all know, is still classified as one of the most dangerous and incurable diseases of this age. What makes the disease impossible to cure is that HIV tends to morph or change its DNA sequence at a rapid phase, which makes it difficult for the human body to detect. In addition to that, its morphing makes it into another HIV strain, which means that the cure intended to neutralize one HIV strain will not work on another one.
Unlike other forms of possible HIV cures, bNAbs are known to detect CD4 binding site receptors of the viral surface, the only part of the virus that doesn’t seem to change despite HIV’s multiple morphing cycles. Past scientific research have shown that bNAbs are existent or present right during the time the infection takes place. However, the amount of bNAbs inside the person’s body is very minimal and is usually detected two to three years after the infection. Because of this, it is often too late for the virus to get detected and diagnosed by physicians, therefore greatly diminishing possible cure efforts. This made the scientists believe that if they can force the human immune system to produce bNAbs at a rapid pace, it may become possible for them to prevent the infection or make it slower without making the person take lots of medication.
The bNAbs are actually discovered way back early 1990s but it only succeeded to draw scientific attention seven years ago. VRC01 is the first bNAb to be discovered and is capable of neutralizing ninety percent of HIV-1 strains. The possibility eventually rose when the VRC01 showed a promising potential after animal tests are proven successful. However, scientific studies made this year proved that the VRC01 is unable to sustain viral control in human participants, even with multiple injections or applications.
Scientists believed that since N6 had surpassed VRC01 in more ways than one, making a vaccine or cure against the vaccine is now a possibility. Because of this, animal experiments involving N6 will start early next year.